Kiev slams violence against Russian banks, asks police to help

KIEV, Mar 23 (PRIME) -- Attacks on infrastructure of Russian banks’ affiliates in Ukraine threaten stability of the Ukrainian banking system, Deputy Chairwoman of the National Bank of Ukraine Yekaterina Rozhkova said on Thursday and asked the police to reinstate peace for the banks to resume their operations.

“The National Bank is pointing out to law enforcement authorities the need to protect more than 1.7 million of Ukrainians, depositors who trusted their money, more than 21 billion hryvnias, to the banking system and do not have access to the money at the moment,” Rozhkova said.

“Our compatriots, clients and employees of these banks, are in danger from unforeseeable actions by aggressive groups of people. Equipment of these offices of the banks suffers from acts of vandalism on a daily basis.”

She said that loans to state enterprises account for 14% of the loan portfolios of Russian banks’ affiliates in Ukraine. Ukrainian law forbids state entities to pledge assets, which is why the loans are frequently secured against future revenue.

All affiliates of Russian state banks operating in Ukraine have enough capital and fulfill all requirements of the Ukrainian authorities, Rozhkova said.

(26.9199 hryvnias – U.S. $1)

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