Sberbank to open branches in Ukraine’s annexed Crimea
The main Russian bank, Sberbank, announced on Wednesday (18.1.2023) that it will open branches this year in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Heir to the savings banks of the tsarist times, Sberbank claims to have more than 100 million customers, mostly in Russia, but also in several countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
“Throughout the year branches of the bank will be opened, the first of them, in the largest cities, will start operating in the first half,” Sberbank said in a statement.
Sergei Aksionov, governor appointed by Russia on the peninsula, celebrated “the arrival of such an important actor”, which “will improve (…) the development of the local economy”. To this end, the first ATMs of Sberbank have already been installed in Crimea.
The announcement occurs at a time when the elite of the world economy is meeting in Davos (Switzerland), where Ukrainian political and financial representatives are present, amidst an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Since July 2022, some assets of Sberbank have been frozen in the European Union due to their alleged role, according to the United States and the EU, in financial support for the Russian military intervention.
(efe/afp)
