Vietnamese firms in Russia recommended to keep close watch on situation

Many container shipping companies have suspended the routes to Russia. (Illustrative photo: AFP/VNA)

Moscow (VNA) – As Russia is facing sanctions imposedby the West, Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in this country Duong Hoang Minh hasrecommended Vietnamese businesses in this country to stay calm and keep a closewatch on the situation.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, he said the exclusion ofRussia from the SWIFT international payment system has just been levied on sevenRussian banks, so Russia’s banking activities with Vietnam haven’t beenaffected much.

However, Minh noted, if tensions escalate, all Russian bankscould be banned from SWIFT, which will have real impact on their bankingactivities with Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in Russia Duong Hoang Minh (Photo: VNA)

What Vietnamese businesses in Russia should do now is to waitand calmly keep a close watch on the situation to take timely response measures,the counsellor recommended.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hong Thanh, head of Vietnam’s trade officebranch in Far Eastern Russia, pointed out that transportation and the Russianruble exchange rates are the two issues affecting bilateral trading activities.

On March 2, many container shipping companies like MaerskLine, KMTC, and MCC suspended the routes to Russia, making Vietnamese exportsunable to reach this market. Besides, the USD to RUB exchange rate hikes willerode profits of the firms importing goods into Russia since they cannotincrease selling prices like the way the US dollar appreciates.

On the other hand, in the medium term, imports into Russiaare forecast to fall sharply, and Russian people will consume more domesticgoods, according to Thanh./.

VNA