The European Union has identified seven Russian banks that will be barred from using the SWIFT financial messaging system.
Bloomberg reports that the banks affected are VTB Bank PJSC, Bank Rossiya, Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank PJSC, Sovcombank PJSC, and VEB.RF.
Sberbank PJSC, the country’s largest lender, and a bank partly owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom PJSC, on the other hand, are among the banks that would not be barred from the messaging system that enables trillions of dollars in transactions around the world.
The European Union previously stated that it intends to cut Russian banks off from fast international banking. Speaking about the invasion of Ukraine on Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed some measures to EU leaders, including the closure of some banks to limit the country’s economy.
“First and foremost, we commit to ensuring that a number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT,” she said. As a result, these banks will be cut off from the international financial system, jeopardizing their ability to operate globally. Swift is the world’s most dominant interbank messaging system. Cutting off banks will prevent them from conducting the majority of their financial transactions around the world, effectively blocking Russia’s exports and imports.
“Second, we will prevent Putin from using the war to his advantage.”
We will paralyze the central bank’s assets. This will halt transactions and prevent the central bank from liquidating assets.” Finally, we will work to prevent the Russian oligarchy from using its financial assets on our market. All of these measures will have a significant impact on Putin’s ability to finance his war, as well as on the country’s economy.
“Putin has set out on a path to destroy Ukraine, but in doing so, he is also destroying the future of his own country.”
Karl Peter
Writer
