Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, at the request of the business, prepared step-by-step instructions on conducting foreign trade barter transactions. The document describes the stages for organizing such settlements, their advantages and types, as well as the mechanism for determining the equal value of exchanged goods and services, standard forms of contracts and regulatory acts.
The instructions note that there are three types of barter. The first one is closed barter, it is divided, in turn, into counter deliveries (exchange of goods of equal value) and counter purchases (company A receives the goods from B and sells them, the proceeds are directed to the purchase of other goods in which B is interested). The second one is open barter, when more than two enterprises participate in the chain. Another kind is tolling, where one company provides another with its production base or equipment to release goods, which then serve as a reward.
Experts note that the main difficulties of the tool are in assessing the cost of goods.
The main advantage of barter is high resistance to any sanctions. That is why it is valuable, Sergey Khestanov, economist, associate professor of the RANEPA, explains.
“Barter is the most ancient form of trade that appeared before the invention of money,” the expert emphasizes. – Interestingly, the Ministry of Economic Development recommends to be guided by the prices of Russian commodity exchanges when determining the value of export goods. Such is the fusion of antiquity (barter) and modernity (commodity exchanges).”