Bolivian Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said that his country conducted financial operations amounting to 278 million Chinese yuan ($38.7 million) between May and July of the current year. That accounts for 10% of its foreign trade during that period.

“Banana, zinc, and wood manufacturing exporters are conducting transactions in yuan, as well as importers of vehicles and capital goods,” Montenegro said during a press conference in La Paz, adding that the share of alternative currencies is expected to increase over time, RT reported.

Importers and exporters have been able to trade in yuan since February, and the Russian ruble since March via Banco Union, a Bolivian state-owned lender, bank officials said, as cited by Reuters.

The transactions between Banco Union and Russia’s Gazprombank facilitate “the work of Russian companies in the market” in spite of economic penalties imposed on Moscow by the West since 2022, according to Russian Ambassador to Bolivia Mikhail Ledenev, as quoted by the agency.