All Belarusian banks connected to the Russian analogue of SWIFT | News from Germany about Russia

All Belarusian banks have connected to the Russian System for the Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), Denis Baryshkov, who heads the Payment System Development and Regulation Department of the National Payment System Department at the Bank of Russia, said during a video stream at the VIII National Payment Forum on Thursday, December 9.

According to Baryshkov, as of 2021, there are 335 users connected to the SPFS, including 38 foreign participants from nine countries, including all Belarusian credit institutions.

Russian payment system

SPFS is a proprietary service of the Bank of Russia operating in the format of the international financial information transmission system SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). The Russian payment system was launched in December 2014 after threats to disconnect Russia from SWIFT were first voiced. All over the world, this system is used by more than 12 thousand banks and organizations in 215 countries, in Russia – more than 600 banks and organizations.

Opposition of Belarus – for disconnecting from SWIFT

In turn, in mid-November 2021, the Belarusian opposition initiated a discussion of a possible disconnection from SWIFT of Belarus in order to increase pressure on the Lukashenka regime. In turn, the office of ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on the basis of the online platform “Golos” launched a poll on whether Belarusians support the country’s disconnection from SWIFT. As a result, more than 60% of 406 thousand who voted in favor of such a proposal. Belarus has been a SWIFT user since 1994.

Disconnect from SWIFT Iran and DPRK

Until now, such an extreme measure as disconnecting from SWIFT has been used only twice in relation to Iran and the DPRK. In 2012, the EU, trying to block the implementation of Tehran’s nuclear program, decided to disconnect 24 Iranian banks from SWIFT, including the Central Bank.

Later, in 2017, the interbank SWIFT system closed access to three North Korean banks on the UN sanctions list.

The decision to disconnect a country from SWIFT is within the purview of the EU Council, and the company that operates this international system for cross-border payments and transfers is headquartered in Brussels.

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