UPDATE 1-Yuan's share in Russia's import settlements jumped to 23% in 2022 - Russian c.bank

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MOSCOW, March 9 (Reuters) - The share of China's yuan in Russia's import settlements in 2022 jumped to 23% from 4%, Russia's central bank said on Thursday, also noting a rise in the yuan's share in exchange trading in February.

In Russia, where the dollar was king for years following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the yuan has become a major player.

The rouble's share dropped to 27% from 29%, the bank said.

The share of dollar-rouble exchange trading in Russia fell to 36% in February, its lowest in recent years, the central bank said in a report on financial market risks.

"The volume of exchange operations in 'toxic' currencies continues to decline," the bank said.

The yuan's share, in the yuan-rouble and dollar-yuan pairs, rose to 37% in February, from 33% in January.

The regulator said banks reduced access to dollar liquidity as the market awaited new Western sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, causing a temporary foreign exchange shortage on Russia's swap market.

Liquidity improved in early March, after the new sanctions were imposed, the bank said.

Russia is selling 5.4 billion roubles worth of yuan a day between March 7 and April 6, as it compensates for lower oil and gas revenues. The switch to yuan from so-called "unfriendly" currencies of countries that have imposed sanctions illustrates the growing importance of China's currency for Russia.

The central bank also said that exporters lowered their foreign currency sales to $7.8 billion in February as energy prices fell. (Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Tomasz Janowski)