No Obstacle to Importing Food from Russia, Says Bangladesh Official

Two dozen unnamed international banks have agreed to confirm LCs supporting grain imports from Russia, according to a 25 Aug report by The Business Standard. The reporting follows remarks by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi that the Bangladeshi government has no restrictions barring it from importing food products from Russia and that “there are globally 24 banks from where Bangladesh can import food with dollars if necessary”.

The statement contrasts that made by Bangladesh’s Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque in mid-August who told The Business Standard that global banks were not giving confirmation to LCs opened by Bangladeshi banks for transactions with Russia.

Bangladesh primarily opens LCs with 15 Russian banks that are not subject to US sanctions, according to The Business Standard which further reported that former Agrani Bank managing director Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam indicated there has been no problem in LC confirmation in Bangladesh’s bilateral trade transactions with the Russian banks that are still connected to SWIFT.