The United Nations did not reconnect Russia’s Agricultural Bank to SWIFT. In a letter dated August 28, 2023, Secretary-General António Guterres described a possible route for the bank’s Luxembourg subsidiary, RSHB Capital S.A., to apply for SWIFT membership. He said an expedited application could make effective access possible within 30 days. That was a proposed timeline, not confirmation that an application was filed or access restored.
What the UN proposed
As Reuters reported on September 8, 2023, Guterres wrote to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that RSHB Capital S.A., a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank), was eligible to apply to SWIFT because it issued debt securities. The proposed access was intended for food and fertilizer transactions.
The distinction matters: the applicant would have been the subsidiary, not the Moscow-based parent bank, and the UN was describing a route to apply—not granting membership itself. SWIFT’s membership process would still have been involved.
How the proposed messaging route would work
The arrangement was designed as an intermediary link between international financial institutions and Rosselkhozbank:
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- International banks would exchange SWIFT messages with RSHB Capital S.A.
- The subsidiary would relay those messages to its parent bank in Moscow using Russia’s SPFS messaging system.
SWIFT and SPFS are messaging systems in this account; the proposal concerned the ability to exchange financial messages. It did not, by itself, establish that payments would be executed, sanctions would be lifted, or all counterparties would be willing or legally able to transact.
What “within 30 days” meant
Guterres’s letter, as quoted by Reuters, said: “SWIFT has already confirmed that an expedited application process could be possible, bringing the time for effective access within 30 days.” The wording is conditional: the expedited application process could make effective access possible within that period. It does not say that access had already been obtained, or that a completed reconnection was guaranteed.
Reuters’ September 2023 report establishes the proposal and its stated timeline, but does not establish whether the subsidiary applied, whether SWIFT admitted it, or what the arrangement’s present-day status or legal conditions are.
Why the proposal was part of a larger diplomatic offer
The SWIFT route was one of four measures in a UN offer intended to improve Russian grain and fertilizer exports and encourage Russia to return to the Black Sea Initiative. The other measures Reuters reported were:
- A UN-supported insurance facility for Russian food and fertilizer exports.
- Help with requests to unblock assets related to Russian fertilizer companies in the European Union.
- Exploration of authorization for Russian agricultural vessels to access EU ports.
These were elements of the offer, not evidence that the measures had been put into operation. In its historical context, Reuters reported that Russia’s bank had been cut off by the EU in June 2022 and that Russia left the grain initiative in July 2023.
Why Moscow was skeptical
Reuters reported that Russia’s Foreign Ministry argued the offer did not provide actual sanctions exemptions and contained no new elements. The ministry’s statement, as reported by Reuters, said: “Instead of actual exemptions from sanctions, all Russia got was a new dose of promises from the UN Secretariat.”
That response highlights the difference between a possible technical route to SWIFT membership for a subsidiary and a change to sanctions. The proposal described an application path; it was not itself a sanctions exemption, and the Russian government said that distinction left the offer inadequate.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the grain figures do—and do not—show
In the same 2023 reporting, Reuters attributed to the United Nations two figures illustrating the Black Sea pact’s reported importance: nearly 33 million metric tons of grain exported by Ukraine under the pact, and global food prices more than 20% lower as a benefit to poorer states. Reuters did not provide the underlying calculation year for the first figure or a methodology and measurement year for the price estimate. They should therefore be read as figures attributed to the UN in 2023, not as current measurements or independently specified estimates.
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