VTB’s activities in Ukraine are no longer possible, but it still doesn’t exist in Crimea
All assets of VTB Bank in Ukraine have been frozen, further activity is impossible, Chairman of the Board of the financial institution Andrei Kostin said on the Rossiya 1 TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Our interaction today is only through lawyers, because the actions of the Ukrainian authorities, who, by the way, are not against the bank in Mr. Kolomoisky’s lawsuit against the Russian Federation, seized our assets there to secure the claim against the Russian Federation, making our further activities impossible.
Therefore, today the bank has ceased its activities, there is a commission, today the bank has assets, which are enough, if they are honestly sold, to cover the obligations that the bank still has, they are very large to depositors, to companies.
Therefore, there are enough assets that we are no longer selling, but are being sold by the relevant Ukrainian authorities, which must pay off all Ukrainian citizens and Ukrainian companies.
That’s all, actually, that’s why our lawyers are monitoring this process, but we no longer have a relationship with Ukraine, it was the will of the Ukrainian authorities, they constantly said that they don’t need Russian banks in Ukraine and, in general, , this is the result we came to,” Kostin said.
Kostin previously stated that VTB does not plan to start working in Crimea due to the threat of Western sanctions.
“I often have to answer the question why VTB does not go to work in Crimea. I am forced to answer that such a step will inevitably lead to falling into the category of so-called “extended sanctions.” Unlike the sectoral ones that apply today against VTB and more than 230 other Russian companies in various industries, the expanded sanctions provide for the freezing of the assets of an organization located in the United States - that is, any dollar account. The inability to work with the main settlement systems, which means, in essence, the suspension of any banking activity for international and other currency payments,” Kostin said, speaking to senators in the Federation Council.
VTB's operations in Ukraine are no longer possible, but it's still not in Crimea.