A man told the German Press Agency that after a long search in downtown Moscow he was only able to find a Sberbank machine on Saturday that dispensed 7,500 rubles (around 80 euros). A Rosbank machine in the luxury department store “Gum”, where dollars and euros can also be drawn, no longer issued foreign currencies, as the 41-year-old said. Other Muscovites also reported such problems. A man from the Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg sent a photo of a Raiffeisen Bank ATM, the screen of which read: “The ATM is temporarily shut down.” Another machine did not issue the desired sum of 50,000 rubles (530 euros) – and instead displayed the recommendation to try withdrawing several smaller sums again.
Assets and balances frozen in the US
In response to Russia’s large-scale attack on the neighboring country, both the EU and the US had imposed sanctions on Russia’s financial sector. Six Russian banks – including the country’s second largest institution, VTB Bank – were completely affected by the US punitive measures. This means US citizens and companies are not allowed to do business with them, their assets in the US – or even their assets that come into contact with the US financial system – are frozen. In addition, the government bans all US institutions from maintaining accounts for the largest Russian financial institution, Sberbank.
On Friday, several large Russian banks – including Sberbank and VTB Bank – assured the Russians in a joint statement that there would be no problems withdrawing cash.
Source: Nachrichten
