Overnight,
banking officials were also
seeking to calm Russians about the effects of sanctions.
Russian banks that landed on US, EU and UK sanctions lists have spent the night reassuring depositors that their money is safe, in efforts to maintain calm and prevent bank runs.
VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, said that the sanctions would not affect the ability of clients to withdraw money at any cash machine in
Russia, and that the bank had not restricted foreign currency exchanges.
Gazprombank, the country’s third-largest, assured customers that the sanctions against it were “not blocking (SDN) and do not affect the bank’s regular operations.”
A Guardian correspondent on Monday observed tellers at Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, telling customers they had already exchanged all their reserves of foreign currency and that they would need to come back the next day.
Sberbank gave similar assurances to customers, while saying it needed to review the conditions of the new restrictions under the US Treasury sanctions.
US banks have until May 25 to finalise their dealings with Sberbank, VTB, Otkritie, Sovcombank, and VEB equities, the body said.