In the occupied Crimea, only 6 operating Russian banks remained out of 36 in the first years of annexation. All of them are under international sanctions. This is reported by the Monitoring Group of the Institute of the Black Sea Strategic Studies and BlackSeaNews.
It is noted that by the beginning of the occupation on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol there was an extensive network of separate divisions of commercial banks. The Russian Federation planned to use Ukrainian financial institutions to mitigate the problems of the transition period. However, not a single Ukrainian bank continued to operate under occupation.
“During the period of the occupation of Crimea, 34 Russian banks began to operate at different times. In addition, 2 local banks (36 in total) were transferred to Russian jurisdiction. At the beginning of 2020, 28 banks lost their licenses. Of these, 4 banks have already been dismissed, 24 are undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. 2 Russian banks that left Crimea after a brief attempt to work there still operate on the territory of the Russian Federation”,- the report said.
In total, as of January 1, 2020, 6 operating banks of the Russian Federation remained on the peninsula. All of them are under international sanctions. Even Russian banking institutions ceased operations on the occupied peninsula due to sanctions.
“This circumstance has become an additional filter for some Western businessmen who, after visiting Crimea with investment intelligence, took a wait-and-see attitude. It is primarily due to the fact that European banks, due to sanctions, cannot cooperate with banks that operate on the territory of the peninsula”,- experts added.