Finance

Russian Banks Accepting SWIFT from Europe & USA

Which Russian banks process incoming SWIFT payments from Europe and USA in 2026? Limited options like Gazprombank, Raiffeisen amid sanctions. Checklist, disconnected banks, and alternatives included.

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Which Russian banks regularly receive SWIFT payments from Europe to Russia? For those receiving transfers from Europe or the USA, which banks are currently able to process incoming SWIFT funds?

As of Jan 2026, SWIFT переводы в Россию are possible only through a very small, unstable set of banks — there’s no broad, guaranteed retail channel from Europe or the USA. Industry reporting repeatedly names Gazprombank and a few foreign‑connected Russian lenders (Raiffeisen’s Russian unit, UniCredit/Intesa/OTP in some trackers) as channels that can sometimes process incoming SWIFT funds, but each case is subject to sanctions screening, correspondent‑bank filtering and ad‑hoc limits. Bottom line: don’t expect a “regular” retail path — transfers are case‑by‑case, often delayed, costly or returned.

Contents

Which Russian banks regularly receive SWIFT payments from Europe? (SWIFT переводы в Россию)

Short answer first: none receive mass retail SWIFT payments on a predictable, market‑wide basis. What remains are a handful of banks that are repeatedly named in industry reporting as possible recipients of incoming SWIFT messages from Europe — but each processes payments selectively.

Most‑frequently cited names and what reporting says about them

Why the “sometimes” caveat matters

  • Even when a bank technically has a SWIFT/BIC and can receive messages, correspondent banks or the sender’s bank may refuse to route the payment (or will add lengthy sanctions checks). In practice, incoming SWIFT from Europe is usually allowed only for narrowly defined commercial purposes and after manual approvals — not for routine person‑to‑person transfers. For broad context on how limited and unpredictable the channels are, see the reporting roundup at Brobank and vc.ru: https://brobank.ru/swift-perevody/, https://vc.ru/marketing/2682252-banki-so-swift-v-2026-godu

Banks disconnected from SWIFT and sanctioned (свифт отключенные банки)

Several large Russian banks were explicitly cut off from SWIFT by EU/partner decisions in 2022, and others faced later restrictions. The widely reported list (March 2022 EU action) included VTB, Promsvyazbank, Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank and VEB — those banks cannot rely on normal SWIFT routing: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1484, https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/eu-excludes-seven-russian-banks-swift-official-journal-2022-03-02/
Other banks (Sberbank, Rosselkhozbank, MKB and others) have faced separate restrictions or operational limits in follow‑on measures and correspondent‑bank behaviour; check up‑to‑date country lists before attempting a transfer: https://www.banki.ru/news/daytheme/?id=10969329

If the beneficiary bank is on EU/UK/US sanctions lists or in the SWIFT exclusion list, the transfer will likely be blocked, returned, or require special legal/contractual routing.

How SWIFT transfers from Europe and the USA actually reach Russia (SWIFT из Европы)

SWIFT is a messaging network — it doesn’t itself move money. For a successful incoming SWIFT payment you need three pieces to align:

  1. The receiving bank must be reachable on the SWIFT network (have a BIC).
  2. The receiving bank must have a correspondent (nostro/your bank) account or an intermediary that can clear the currency.
  3. Each intermediary and the sender’s bank must be willing to process the message after sanctions/compliance screening.

What breaks most transfers?

  • Correspondent banks refuse to clear payments to or from Russian counterparties on sanction lists.
  • US‑dollar payments normally clear through US‑based banks and are therefore vulnerable to US jurisdiction and OFAC decisions. That makes USD transfers particularly hard if the beneficiary or its correspondent has any exposure to sanctioned persons/entities (see SWIFT and sanctions guidance and US Treasury actions): https://www.swift.com/about-us/legal/compliance-0/swift-and-sanctions, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2725
  • Banks that technically “have SWIFT” can still receive nothing because upstream banks (in Europe or the US) block the traffic.

So even if a Russian bank is named as “working with SWIFT” in trackers, the practical reality is manual approvals, high compliance friction and no guarantees — see analyses from Carnegie and community reporting on real‑world failures and delays: https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2022/03/how-sanctions-on-russia-will-alter-global-payments-flows?lang=en, https://habr.com/ru/articles/947516/

Practical checklist for sending/receiving SWIFT transfers to Russia (свифт перевод)

If you must send or expect a SWIFT transfer from Europe/USA, follow these steps:

  • Ask the beneficiary for the exact SWIFT/BIC and the bank’s statement about whether they accept incoming SWIFT from your country/currency; get the correspondent/intermediary bank details if available. (Many portals that track working banks list BICs — confirm directly with the bank.)
  • Check EU/UK/US sanction lists and the bank’s status before sending: if the beneficiary appears on a sanctions list, don’t send. (See EU press releases and SWIFT guidance.) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1484, https://www.swift.com/about-us/legal/compliance-0/swift-and-sanctions
  • Ask whether the beneficiary accepts EUR or USD and whether they have a correspondent for that currency — euro is generally easier than dollar because USD clearing routes through U.S. banks.
  • Expect extra documentary requirements: commercial invoices, purpose of payment, KYC. Be ready for manual review and longer holds. See fee/commission notes from Russian banking guides: https://gogov.ru/articles/incoming-swift, https://brobank.ru/swift-perevody/
  • Prefer corporate/trade channels where possible (letters of credit, treasury desks). Retail transfers face the most friction.
  • If the transfer fails, don’t assume it’s stuck forever — get the MT103/transaction reference from the sender and ask both banks to trace it.

Alternatives to SWIFT for transfers into Russia (аналог свифт в россии)

When SWIFT is impractical, people and companies have used:

Politics matters here: re‑admission to mainstream SWIFT channels is politically conditional and uncertain — see the 2025 coverage about possible future changes and the caveats that governments have emphasized: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/26/everythings-on-the-table-bessent-opens-door-to-russian-return-to-major-international-banking-system-00252653

Sources

Conclusion

There’s no reliable, wide‑open list of Russian banks that “regularly” receive SWIFT payments from Europe or the USA — only a small, shifting set of banks (most often Gazprombank and some foreign‑connected units such as Raiffeisen, UniCredit, OTP/Intesa in trackers) can sometimes process incoming SWIFT funds, and then only subject to heavy compliance, correspondent checks and narrow use cases. If you need to move money, verify the beneficiary’s SWIFT/BIC, confirm the bank’s current acceptance policy and correspondent route, and be prepared for delays, fees and possible returns; alternatives (third‑country accounts, trade settlement) exist but carry legal and operational risks. In short: SWIFT переводы в Россию are possible — sometimes — but nothing about the route is routine or guaranteed.

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Russian Banks Accepting SWIFT from Europe & USA