UK has seized the assets of five Russian banks, including Bank Rossiya, Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction, IS Bank and Genbank
Sberbank Headquarters, Moscow. (Credit: Igorkhait/Wikipedia)
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK and the US governments have imposed sanctions on major Russian banks, and Oligarchs.
The UK government has announced the first wave of sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs close to President Putin and large banks that financed the invasion of Crimea.
UK’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated that the initial tranche of sanctions on Russia was in response to Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The government has seized the assets of five Russian banks, including Bank Rossiya, Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction, IS Bank and Genbank.
It has also frozen assets and imposed travel bans on three Russian oligarchs, Gennady Timchenko, Boris and Igor Rotenberg, who have significant relations with the Kremlin.
Truss said: “This first wave of sanctions will hit oligarchs and banks close to the Kremlin. It sends a clear message that the UK will use our economic heft to inflict pain on Russia and degrade their strategic interests. And we are prepared to go much further if Russia does not pull back from the brink.
“We will curtail the ability of the Russian state and Russian companies to raise funds in our markets, prohibit a range of high-tech exports, and further isolate Russian banks from the global economy. These will be surgically targeted sanctions that will hit Russia hard.”
The US government has imposed sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, targeting two of its banks, and elite members, reported Reuters.
The sanctions targeted five major Russian banks, including Russian state-owned Sberbank and VTB, along with two large lenders, along with wealthy individuals and their families.
In addition, the US government announced new export control measures.
By blocking the Sberbank, and other banks from processing and settling payments within the US financial system, the restrictions aim to impact the Russian economy.
In addition, the sanctions will remove the targeted banks out of the US financial system, bans their trade in the country, and suspend their US assets, reported Reuters.