Reconfiguration Instead of Return. Russia’s New Financial Architecture

Since 2022, Russia has effectively been disconnected from a number of key institutions of the Western financial system. Relations with the Bank for International Settlements were suspended, cooperation with the EBRD was terminated, access to World Bank programs was restricted, several Russian banks were excluded from SWIFT, and part of the country’s sovereign reserves was frozen. Even in the event of a peace agreement, restoring such ties would face the problem of lost trust. Returning to the previous state would require significantly more time and resources than the rupture itself.

The institutional vector of reconfiguration also appears justified. Since 2022, alternative platforms have been actively developing, such as the BRICS New Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, settlements in national currencies within the SCO framework, as well as bilateral mechanisms with China, India, and Middle Eastern countries. These structures are forming a parallel financial infrastructure that objectively reduces the need to return to the previous architecture.

At the same time, it is important to consider the limitations of the multipolar model. Alternative institutions do not yet provide comparable liquidity and depth of capital markets. Therefore, the transition to a more sustainable and balanced development model in the medium term will be associated with a higher cost of external financing and limited access to technology. This is the objective backdrop that defines the scope of what is possible in shaping a new financial architecture.

Author: Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of World Economy and World Finance, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Tatiana Aleksandrovna Gorbacheva.