Sanctions force Asian state to ditch dollar payments to Russia – Nikkei Asia

Bangladesh is set to make loan repayments in Chinese yuan for a nuclear power plant being built by Russia, as a way to sidestep Western sanctions, Nikkei Asia reported on Monday.

According to the news outlet, the decision follows last week’s high-level talks between the sides, where it was agreed that the bills could be paid in yuan. Bangladesh owes Russia the equivalent of $110 million for the facility, which is still under construction.

“Because of the sanctions against Russian banks… we couldn’t process payments in US dollars,” Uttam Kumar Karmaker, additional secretary of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Finance’s Economic Relations Division, told Nikkei. “Russia asked us to settle the payments in their currency, rubles, but that was not feasible. So, we both opted for yuan,” he explained.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) is…