Small Russian banks are already fleeing Crimea, fearing sanctions.
Moscow - Simferopol, October 15 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - The newly formed Crimean banking market began to change again under the influence of geopolitical risks, writes Kommersant. The first to leave the region on this basis is Tomsk Promregionbank - just two months after entering Crimea. Until now, external risks have blocked the peninsula only for major players.
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As of October 15, Promregionbank ceases operations in Crimea and closes its only credit and cash office (CCO) in Simferopol, which was opened only on August 14. Then the chairman of the board of Promregionbank, Andrei Churakov, said that this was only the first point in Crimea, with which the bank had high hopes. The seriousness of its intentions was also evidenced by the fact that a month after the opening of the office, on September 18, Promregionbank announced its entry into the Crimean Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
But due to fear of Western sanctions, the plans were quickly revised. “The closure of the office in Simferopol is a forced step associated with the aggravation of the foreign policy situation and increased systemic risks for the bank and its partners both in Crimea and in other Russian regions of presence. Wanting to maintain stability in work and customer trust, the management of Promregionbank decided to close the Simferopolsky cash and credit institution,” says the bank’s website.
This also came as a surprise to the Crimean bank employees. They say they learned of management's decision to close the office about two weeks ago. “They didn’t explain the reasons, they told us to pay off the depositors and wind down, today was our last working day,” says one of Kommersant’s interlocutors.
The situation became clearer towards evening. According to interlocutors at the bank's head office, the reasons are both political and economic. “Crimea turned out to be not as attractive as it seemed: rental prices are the same as in Moscow, but the population is much less than 2 million people for the entire peninsula,” says Kommersant’s interlocutor at the bank. However, the political aspect seems to be the main one. “It is already clear that the situation around Crimea is very tense, sanctions will continue, and there is no point in risking the relationship of the entire bank with Western counterparties for the sake of not the most obvious and still small business in Crimea,” says the publication’s interlocutor, noting that tensions in relations have already is felt.
According to the publication, concerns may concern the reaction of Western counterparty banks in which Promregionbank has correspondent accounts. In particular, we can talk about the German Commerzbank. For European or American banks, Crimea is an occupied territory.
This is the first known case of a Russian bank voluntarily leaving Crimea, which was until now considered a promising region from a financial point of view, especially for small players.
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