MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Russia and Thailand intend to shift to settlements in national currencies in bilateral trade, Executive Director of the Russian-Thai Business Council Vladimir Kovalyov told TASS after the Russia-ASEAN summit.

"There are issues related to settlements. This was also discussed at the forum, namely, that we need, of course, to use national currencies and simplify settlement operations between our countries. Both we and our colleagues are interested in seamless payment solutions," he said. "We need to streamline these contacts and move away from intermediaries. Our countries have already established the necessary mechanisms."

"We need to adjust them correspondingly, to make a political decision and proceed at the executive level. I think this topic will be on the agenda and will be resolved in a positive way," he noted. "Our Thai colleagues are interested in the solutions offered by Russian payment instruments. So, let us wait and see. I think we will see positive results."

According to Kovalyov, logistics issues are one of the challenges of Russian-Thai cooperation, "We have been working with our Thai colleagues for quite some time now to establish a direct container shipping route between Russia and Thailand, specifically between Novorossiysk and Bangkok. This issue is on the agenda and will, of course, create new opportunities for combining the economic potential of our countries," he went on to say.

"In general, we need to diversify logistics routes to make them easier, clearer, and more comfortable. We are also discussing with our colleagues insurance and leasing-related issues. I think they will be resolved," he added.