Russia will begin exchanging oil for Indian bananas after declaring its Banana war with Ecuador

Having exported oil to India, tens of billions worth of dollars in rupees are stuck in India, forcing Russia to come up with new ways to return these funds and expand imports from India.

Now Russia is planning to launch a banana scheme - to start importing bananas from India, probably in exchange for rupees. India is the largest banana producer in the world, and Russia is the biggest importer (21% of global purchases).

They already began to clear the way for its import. In early February, Ruzzia launched a Banana war against Ecuador - Rosselkhoznadzor partially banned the import of bananas from Ecuador due to the sudden "discovery" of a polyphagous humpback fly.

The decision was made against the backdrop of the Ecuadorian government's decision to transfer Soviet weapons to the United States as scrap metal [for re-delivery to Ukraine]. Russia was the main buyer of bananas in Ecuador and bought twice as much as the United States.

India is a major importer of Russian oil. Its imports from Russia reached a record 2.15 million barrels per day in May 2023 but have been declining since then. In December 2023, it fell to 1.48 million barrels per day.

The drop in volumes was due to payment problems - Russian oil companies cannot accept payments in dollars and euros. Difficulties arose even when trying to accept payment in dirhams.

Because of this, these companies have accumulated huge amounts of Indian rupees in their accounts, which are difficult to convert into foreign currency. In August last year, about $39 billion was kept in Indian banks, which oil companies could not return to Russia, Reuters wrote.

Now Russians will be able to enjoy the Indian bananas in exchange for the oil!