Hong Kong banks also refuse to accept payments from Russia.

Hong Kong is a popular place for purchasing goods for parallel import, but by the end of February, Russian importers had practically lost the opportunity to directly transfer payments there.

It was a convenient point for purchasing goods that were not sold to Russia due to sanctions or simply the refusal of Western companies to do business with it, as well as for payments to those who did not accept money from Russia.

In 2022, Hong Kong banks easily accepted even rubles as payment. Now they do not accept payments from Russia even in yuan.

Pressure from the US and EU on those helping Russia with supplies, primarily the threat of secondary sanctions, forced Hong Kong banks to freeze transactions with Russia.

In January 2024, representatives of the US Treasury held several meetings in Hong Kong. Communicating with bank representatives, they promised secondary sanctions for Russia’s assistance in trade in dual-use goods

After the adoption of Biden’s decree that the US Treasury Department can punish foreign banks if they help Russia, several countries began to deny Russian clients banking services, including Turkey, Cyprus and China.

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