Officials at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Bank of Russia will meet this week to put the finishing touches on a bilateral payment system to ensure smooth trade flows between the two nations without violating global sanctions, the government said people familiar with the matter told ET. After invading Ukraine at the end of February, Russia is facing ever stricter sanctions.

Both sides will meet to discuss payment solutions such as loro or nostro accounts. The first is a third party account, where one bank holds an account in one country for another bank. The second is a bank holding an account in another country with another bank.

“We will look at how we can open these accounts in the national currencies of India and Russia,” said one of the people quoted above.

The two-day meeting is expected to take place in New Delhi on Wednesday and Thursday.

agenda for the meeting

In addition to central bankers, representatives from ministries, banks and financial institutions from both sides will also take part.

“The scale of such a meeting between two countries is remarkable, although discussions expand before both sovereigns come to a conclusion,” said a person involved with the exercise. RBI and Bank of Russia did not respond to ET’s inquiries. Individual institutions could not be contacted immediately for comment.

SBI,

, is likely to represent Indian bankers along with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India (FEDAI), the people cited above said.

“People with general manager status are likely to come from our side, while Treasury Department officials are also expected,” one of the people said.

Executives from SberBank and VEB Bank Russia, as well as representatives of the Russian Ministry of Trade and Foreign Affairs are expected. Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Bank Rossiya, Promsvyazbank, VEB and VTB Bank are exempt from sanctions, according to the above people.