Russia Still Uses ‘Toxic’ Currencies for Near Half of Export (1)

Russia still conducted nearly half of all trade late last year in the currencies of its adversaries that imposed sanctions over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, even as the yuan and the ruble made deep inroads into the settlement of transactions.

Payments for exports using what the Bank of Russia calls “toxic” currencies, primarily US dollars and euros, accounted for 48% of the total at the end of 2022, down from 87% at the start of the year. The yuan’s share increased to 16% — from about 0.5% — and the ruble made up 34%, or almost triple its level ...