RIA Novosti reported several Ukrainian banks willing to operate in Crimea applied for Russian banking licenses to Russia’s Central Bank. The Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Central Bank Mikhail Sukhov did not mention the exact lenders. The official highlighted that “of a huge network of Ukrainian banks, only four are now operating on the peninsula but these banks could wrap up operations within two weeks.”
Mikhail Sukhov said that 173 branch offices of Russian banks have been opened so far in the Republic of Crimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol. Most of them have already started servicing both individuals and legal entities. Sberbank decided to resume its operation in Crimea via its Ukrainian subsidiary.
The Russian regulator banned Privatbank owned by billionaire Igor Kolomoisky, VAB Bank, Bank Kyivska Rus, and Impexbank from Crimea. The decision was made “to protect the interests of depositors and customers whose lawful rights had been violated, in particular, as a result of halting operations by those banks for the whole month." All deposit holders are supposed to get compensations. Every deposit owner will be paid up to 700,000 rubles. The exchange rate is set as of March 18 that is 3.78 rubles versus hryvnya.
According to the law passed in late March, Ukrainian banks registered in Crimea can operate within the interim period until January 1, 2015 even without a license from Russia’s Central Bank. There is the Russian banking law behind the exodus of Ukrainian banks from Crimea, which obliges any bank operating in Russia to register with the country's Central Bank. So, no politics is involved in the Ukrainian banks exit from Crimea.
