Russias largest state-owned lender Sberbank has opened its first full-service branches in southern Ukraines occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, the banks press servicetold state media Monday.Sberbank now operates branches in the Kherson region city of Henichesk and the Zaporizhzhia region city of Melitopol, according to the state-run news agency TASS.The announcement comes six months after Sberbank announced new offices in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
The bank nowlists four full-serve branches in Donetsk and five in Luhansk, with dozens of mobile and other types of locations across the two regions.President Vladimir Putin, who unilaterally annexed the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions after invading the neighboring country in 2022,urged Russian banks in January to be more proactive in expanding into occupied Ukrainian regions.
The state-owned Promsvyazbank was the first Russian lender to launch operations in those regions.Sberbank was among the first Russian companies to be sanctioned over the invasion of Ukraine, leading to its complete withdrawal from the European market.
Itlaunched operations in annexed Crimea in 2023 after years of avoiding such a move due to threats of Western sanctions.Sanctions used to frighten [banks], but then they became a reality, Putinsaid in January.So what is holding them back?A Message from The Moscow Times:Dear readers,We are facing unprecedented challenges.
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