Trade between India and Russia has surged since the West imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion last year of Ukraine, which has altered flows of oil and other goods.

“We worked hard to establish our level of partnership with Indian banks and our representatives here worked hard,” Elena Borisenko, deputy chairman of the board of management of Gazprombank, told Reuters on the sidelines of an India-Russia business dialogue event in New Delhi on Monday.

“Now we have infrastructure, we have payments from banks … it is much better than it was three months ago,” she added.

Gazprombank is Russia’s third-largest lender by assets and a key conduit of the Russian energy trade.

Due to higher purchases of oil, the trade balance is tilted increasingly in favour of Russia. That balance could be improved through Russian companies investing in infrastructure projects in India, Borisenko said.

“We are hoping that it (trade) will be better, it will be improving, and … payments between Russia and Indian will be more and more in national currencies,” the executive said.

India last year implemented a broader framework to facilitate overseas trade in rupees and since then many foreign banks, including Gazprombank and other Russian institutions, have opened vostro accounts with Indian banks.