Citizens with Crimean registration cannot make currency transfers through the SWIFT system due to the refusal of foreign banks. This also happens in cases where the money goes not through Crimean, but through Moscow banks

Photo: RIA Novosti

“If Crimea is indicated in the passport, foreign banks will not allow foreign currency payments,” an employee of the Russian payment system told the Vedomosti newspaper. The presence of this problem is confirmed by the source of the publication in the Bank of Russia.

Deutsche Bank did not comment on the refusals, citing client information.

It is possible to send currency from other regions of Russia to Crimea, but not from Crimea, a person who knows this from an employee of a Crimean bank confirmed to the publication. “The reason was explained as the need, according to bank rules, to indicate the sending region, but the recipient’s region is not necessary.”

According to Vedomosti’s interlocutor, the bank has internal instructions that instruct not to make payments if the recipient or sender is associated with Crimea.

An ECB spokesman said he could not comment on an individual case because he did not have the details. He says the situation is most likely related to restrictive measures introduced by the EU Council.

To avoid refusal when making a payment, banks and payment systems resort to tricks. When transferring from one current account to another, banks do not indicate in the message that the payment is intended for a resident of Crimea. Then the transaction can go through, says an employee of one of the Crimean banks. After all, if it is indicated in the comments to the message that this is Crimea, then the payment will definitely be blocked.

Western banks refuse to accept transfers from people with Crimean registration