From: New Voice of Ukraine
Russia has begun opening branches of its banks in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
According to a Financial Times report, Sberbank and VTB, the largest state-owned banks of the aggressor country, are launching branches in Ukraine. Sberbank, which has been under Western sanctions since 2022, has already opened 130 ATMs and 48 branches in eastern and southern Ukraine, including full-scale offices. Additionally, the bank returned to Crimea, opening its first branch there after an eight-year hiatus following the 2014 annexation of the peninsula.
Until recently, large Russian retailers, banks, and other companies avoided an official presence in occupied Crimea, as well as in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Sberbank’s new branches include half a dozen mobile offices in Mariupol. As for VTB, which has also been sanctioned since 2022, the bank announced plans to open permanent offices in Mariupol by the end of the year. VTB’s CEO, Andrei Kostin, officially opened the first branch in occupied Luhansk in July.
Voice of Ukraine 