Ukraine’s biggest bank – Privatbank – stopped servicing their own clients in Crimea on March 15, a sign of the great economic uncertainty that all businesses located on the peninsula are facing now.
“Due to the ongoing technical maintenance involving
the modernization of bank complexes, Privatbank branches in the autonomous republic of Crimea will be
working in a technological regime (there will be no service for the clients).
We apologize for the inconvenience,” said Privatbank’s technical support to the
Crimean information agency.
Moreover, the bank has reduced the loan limit for Crimean
residents, although has not disclosed the size of this limit so far.
Privatbank did not respond to the Kyiv Post inquiry,
while the bank’s online chat and hot phone line for the clients did not answer also.
However, the bank’s ATM machines in Crimea work normally,
though they do not accept the cards issued by different banks.
Privatbank has increased its own earnings in 2013 by 27
percent, reaching Hr 1.9 billion, while its assets are Hr 214.5 billion. The bank
with headquarters in Dnipropetrovsk is owned by billionaires Igor Kolomoisky
and Gennadiy Bogolyubov. Kolomoisky was appointed the oblast governor.
Following Kolomoisky’s sharp comments on Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s policy, Central Bank of Russia introduced insolvency
administration in Moscomprivatbank, Privatbank’s Moscow-based subsidiary.
Therefore, Kolomoisky plans to sell it.
On March 11, Serhiy Aksyonov, the Russia-backed acting prime minister of Crimea who is not
recognized by Ukraine’s central government, assured that private assets on the
peninsula won’t be touched. First deputy prime minister of Crimea Rustam
Temirhaliyev on March 12 said Ukrainian
banks could continue to operate if they register as foreign banks.
However, Expert Rating
analyst Vitaliy Shapran on March 13 published on his Facebook page a decree
issued by Aksyonov that imposes limitations on money outflows from Crimean
banks and the nationalization of commercial banks. National Bank of Ukraine on
March 13 denied introducing any limitations on withdrawing cash through ATM
machines or from deposit accounts in Crimean banks.
Kyiv Post associate business editor Ivan Verstyuk can be reached at
[email protected].
