Russia can reduce the damage from receipts to the western side with the help of the SWIFT payment system, writes Tagesschau with reference to experts in Germany.

According to experts, the SWIFT international payment system is based in the Belgian city of La Hulpe with a population of seven thousand people. “From here, sums in the dimension of billions of dollars are coordinated daily,” the article says.

If this system is blocked in Russia, banks will lose the opportunity to carry out the operation. Economists believe that this will cause great damage to the Russian and global economy. A slowdown in gas supplies from Russia is possible, which has led to a sharp increase in hydrocarbon prices.

In Russia, an analogue of SWIFT has been created, which is used in the former republics of the USSR. Information technology expert Jan Oetting named it because of the possible risk reduction. “Russia and China use the same structure and the same data format as SWIFT. Essences are practically natural, they can easily be made by transformations. Specifically, this means that Western banks SWIFT to transfer money to countries neighboring Russia, and then apply the Russian system to send them further, ”he explained.

The US and EU are considering imposing new sanctions against Russia if it “attacks” Ukraine. Among the most likely restrictions may be the detection of the conversion of rubles into dollars and foreign currencies, blocking access to the SWIFT payment system.