Russia to Open More State-Owned Banks in Ukraine

Russia’s two largest banks, VTB and Sberbank, announced plans to open branches in the annexed regions of Ukraine by July 2024.

Both VTB and Sberbank are state-owned banks and are among the largest financial institutions in Russia. The decision to open branches in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya is seen as a strategic move to strengthen Russia’s presence in the region.

“Within one and a half months our first 16 branches should open there,” said Sberbank’s CEO German Gref in Russia’s upper house of parliament on Tuesday. “So we will be present throughout the whole country’s territory.”

State-owned Promsvyazbank has already been opening branches in these regions.

The move to annex these regions in 2022 has drawn international criticism.

For more information, check out the full article on Reuters.