Russia plans to resort to barter operations to protect its trade with Morocco
Russia and Morocco can minimize the impact of Western sanctions against Moscow on their commercial exchanges by resorting to barter and using currencies other than the dollar and the euro, as explained on Saturday by the Russian ambassador in Rabat, Valerian Shuvaev. “It is possible to discuss barter operations as well as find solutions for mutual settlements using other currencies, except for the dollar and the euro, or national currencies,” Shuvaev said in an interview with Efe.
The Russian official has not ruled out that trade between the two countries will suffer “difficulties” in payments as a result of the exclusion of several Russian banks from the SWIFT financial transaction system. However, he has stressed that this measure, established as a Western response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, has affected “less than 10 of the 300 banks that are part of the Russian banking system.”
According to the head of the Russian diplomatic delegation in Rabat, Moroccan exports to Russia show a positive trend, since in 2021, they increased by 10.8% compared to 2020, and their value reached 435 million dollars. These exports are mainly represented by food and agricultural raw materials (46.7%), textiles and footwear (33.8%), machinery, equipment and vehicles (15.3%), minerals (2%) and metals and derivatives ( 1%). The Russian ambassador has pointed out that Russian exports to Morocco have experienced “record growth”, and at the end of 2021 they had increased by 58.5% compared to the previous year, exceeding 1,200 million dollars, which represents the best data among all African countries, according to Shuvaev.
Morocco imports from Russia mainly mineral products (61.8%), as well as products from the chemical industry and rubber (27.2%), metals and their derivatives (5.5%), food products and agricultural raw materials (3, 4%), wood, cellulose and paper (1.2%) and machinery, equipment and vehicles (0.8%).
Regarding Russian investments in Morocco, the Russian diplomat added that the two countries are in a stage of developing several joint projects, particularly in the automotive industry and electric power sectors.
The new framework of bilateral relations was defined during the visits of King Mohamed VI of Morocco to Moscow in 2002 and 2016, during which the Declaration on Strategic Partnership and the Declaration on Deep Strategic Partnership between the two countries were signed. In addition, several bilateral agreements in the fields of maritime fishing, scientific, technical and space research and telecommunications technologies were signed in October 2017 during the visit of Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to Rabat.
Morocco has not joined its Western allies in condemning Russian military operations in Ukraine, but has reiterated on several occasions its call for dialogue to end the conflict. On March 2, the Maghreb country decided not to participate in the vote on the resolution of the UN General Assembly to condemn the Russian military intervention, a circumstance that, he said later, “cannot be subject to any interpretation”. (Eph)