MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Sberbank regrets that the European Union imposed sanctions against it but has all the necessary resources to continue working under current conditions, bank’s statement issued Friday said.
“Sberbank of Russia has all the necessary resources, managerial experience and examination to continue productively work under current conditions and fully meet its commitments to Russian and international clients and partners in compliance with the norms of Russian and international law,” the document reads.
Sberbank noted that it is not involved in the geopolitical affairs, that is why by adding Russia’s largest lender to the sanctions list the EU “breaks foundation of global financial system hurting the chances of resolving European crisis in connection with the situation in Ukraine.”
Earlier Thursday, the European Union officially barred Russia’s biggest state-run banks — Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank and Rosselkhozbank — from raising financing on western capital markets. Sberbank is the only one of the five lenders that was put on the Western sanctions list for the first time.
The sanctions prohibit the “direct or indirect purchase or sale of, the brokering or assistance in the issuance of, or any other dealing with bonds, equity or similar financial instruments with a maturity exceeding 90 days, issued after 1 August 2014” by major credit institutions or finance development institutions established in Russia with over 50 percent state ownership.
The restriction also applies to majority-owned subsidiaries of the five blacklisted banks established outside the union and, as well as to any legal person, entity or body acting on behalf or at the direction of the targeted institutions.
The first round of sanctions against Russian officials and entities was implemented by the United States and the European Union back in March as a response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia following a referendum. Moscow has repeatedly said that such measures are counterproductive.
