Indian Exporters Find Themselves Caught In Russia/Ukraine Crossfire

(Bloomberg Quint, New Delhi, 1 March 2022) Even before the harshest of sanctions ⁠hit, trouble had started to build for those in India doing business with Russia. On Friday evening, two days after Russia began attacking sites in Ukraine, Rakesh Shah, director at Nipha Exports in Kolkata, received an email from the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India stating that export credit guarantees for exports to Russia would now be approved only on a case-by-case basis and not as freely as it was before. This was done to account for the rising risk in the region, the government said in a release while clarifying that the cover has not been completely withdrawn. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that India's largest bank State Bank of India has stopped transactions with Russian entities under sanctions to avoid being in breach of them. Nipha Exports has €1,00,000 worth of material to be shipped to Russia and unfulfilled orders worth €3,00,000 up to May this year. With impediments to trade rising, how quickly it will be able to resume shipments and get payments is anybody’s guess.