Translated material
Not saved
Sberbank of Russia plans to close business in a number of European countries. This was stated by the head of the company German Gref in an interview with Russia 24, Interfax reports .
“We are now also optimizing our activities in Europe, we will leave a number of countries,” Gref said. “In general, it is extremely difficult to work in Europe under sanctions.”
As Gref notes, Sberbank experiences the strong pressure of the European regulator. “Although we are a small bank in Europe, we were attributed to systemically significant banks, the direct control and supervision of the European Central Bank - this, of course, very seriously complicated life for a small bank,” Gref said. According to him, the European unit of Sberbank has to bear all the costs associated with supervision of him as systematically significant.
In Europe, a subsidiary of the Russian Bank Sberbank Europe AG operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Another organization is working in Switzerland, Sberbank (Switzerland) AG.
On September 12, 2014, the EU authorities unveiled a new package of sanctions against Russia in connection with aggression in Ukraine. In particular, the EU residents were forbidden to provide Sberbank with investment services, as well as perform operations with new issues of bonds and other securities with circulation terms of more than 30 days.
At the same time, the US authorities announced the introduction of sanctions against Sberbank . In accordance with the restrictions on citizens and companies, it is forbidden to buy Sberbank bonds with a circulation time for more than 30 days, as well as provide them with loans.
On March 15, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine decided to impose sanctions against five Ukrainian banks, in the capital of which there is a share of Russian state credit institutions. The subsidiary of Sberbank also got into this number. The next day, the country's president Petro Poroshenko approved the decision . It entered into force from the moment of signing the presidential decree.
After that, Gref said that Sberbank of Russia is actively looking for ways to "as fast as possible from the Ukrainian market ." “I hope that the Ukrainian authorities will be given this opportunity,” said the head of Sberbank. At the same time, Gref refused to clarify whether the option of selling the Ukrainian subsidiary of Sberbank is considered or the liquidation of the business is also possible.