2024-09-16 06:30:47
Russian state-owned banks are opening branches in eastern Ukraine despite European Union sanctions, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The Kremlin has encouraged companies to expand their operations in Ukraine, the FT writes, adding: Russian President Vladimir Putin assured state-owned banks this year that they had “nothing to fear” if they set up branches in occupied Ukrainian territory.
Accordingly, the major Russian banks Sberbank and VTB are opening branches in cities such as Mariupol.
Sberbank has announced it has opened 130 ATMs and 48 locations in what Moscow describes as “new areas” in eastern and southern Ukraine, according to the FT.
According to the report, VTB Bank announced that it will start serving customers at fixed offices in Mariupol at the end of the year. Since July there is a branch in the occupied city of Luhansk. VTB Bank and Sberbank were sanctioned by the EU in 2022.