Russia’s Sberbank branches out to Crimea

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has officially launched operations in Crimea, the bank said in a statement.

“The first bank ATMs have already been set up, the self-service machines will start working on the whole peninsula within a year. Bank offices will gradually be opened throughout 2023, the first ones will start working in major cities in the first half of the year,” the statement reads.

The press release clarifies that a team has already been formed to oversee the bank’s business processes.

“The arrival of such a major player as Sberbank will make it possible to continue boosting accessibility, speed, and quality of bank services for the population and will have a positive impact on the financial and investment climate as well as the economic and social development,” Crimea head Sergey Aksyonov commented.

Russia’s Sberbank and Alfa Bank were targeted by US blocking sanctions in April 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU also disconnected Sberbank from the international SWIFT payment system as part of the sixth package of sanctions.

Sberbank previously avoided Crimea over other sanctions imposed following the region’s annexation. At the same time, Russia’s Sravni.ru financial portal reported that Sberbank cards were accepted on the peninsula, while issues only occurred when trying to draw cash.