MOSCOW, September 26 (RIANovosti) – The head of the state-run Russian Railways company, Vladimir Yakunin said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Friday that he keeps his savings in VTB, a Russian bank targeted by Western sanctions.
"I keep my money in VTB Bank. I refuse to disclose the sum. But all my savings, considerable enough, are in VTB, which is targeted by the sanctions. I believe that we are part of our country. And the fate of our country is our fate too," Yakunin told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in July, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on a number of Russian banks, including VTB. The measures restricted the financial institutions’ access to Western capital markets.
Western investors are now prohibited from issuing new loans to five largest Russian banks – Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank and Vnesheconombank – for more than 30 days, as well as from buying new issues of stocks and bonds with terms of more than 30 days.
Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Japan have also announced similar measures against VTB.
