A settlement center for cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region has been opened in Vladivostok.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the work of the Far Eastern International Financial Settlement Center for Cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region via video link. The center was opened on the basis of the office of the Russian specialized fintech company A7, created by PSB Bank.

The new office will become a core competence center in the field of high-tech cross-border settlements that are resistant to Western sanctions, A7 noted. The center is designed to strengthen cooperation with Asian countries, where up to 80% of Russian business' foreign trade operations are concentrated.

"We note the high demand for reliable settlements not only from Russian businesses, but also from foreign companies, for example, from African countries interested in building and maintaining stable trade and financial ties with counterparties," said Peter Fradkov, Chairman of the PSB, who attended the opening ceremony. According to him, the creation of the center meets the needs of the Asia-Pacific market players in innovative payment technologies. It is designed to strengthen Russia's financial sovereignty by creating a system of effective settlements between the countries, the Chairman of the PSB emphasized.

The opening ceremony was also attended by the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District, Yuri Trutnev, and the head of the Ministry of Regional Development of Russia, Alexei Chekunkov. The ceremony was also attended by Ilan Shor, CEO of A7, and Chairman of the VEB State Development Corporation.Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov.

Shor, in turn, noted that "the center creates an advanced financial ecosystem in the Far East, accessible to businesses regardless of scale and field of activity." He added that A7 is developing rapidly and in the first year of operation alone, the volume of payments made through the company's infrastructure amounted to more than 7 trillion rubles. According to him, A7 carries out more than 1.5 thousand transactions daily, the volume of new tax deductions to the budget of the Russian Federation for 2025 will amount to more than 20 billion rubles.

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