The group SberbankRussia’s main bank, announced on Wednesday that it is abandoning almost the entire European market – with the exception of Switzerland – due to the impact of the harsh sanctions of Western countries against Moscow in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“In the current situation, Sberbank has decided to withdraw from the European market,” the bank said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
The bank’s European subsidiaries face “irregular outflows of funds and threats to the security of their employees and branches,” the entity added.
Sberbank said it is not in a position to provide liquidity to its European subsidiaries due to a provision of the Russian Central Bank.
Around 11:15 GMT, Sberbank’s certificate of deposit on the London Stock Exchange shattered its value, plummeting 94% to a price of $0.01.
The bank has a presence in eight European countries: Germany, Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina.
“The (European) subsidiaries of Sberbank have a high level of capital and assets, client funds are guaranteed in accordance with local laws,” the bank said.
The Sberbank subsidiary in Switzerland is not concerned, Polina Trizonova, head of the bank’s press service, said in a statement: “The Sberbank subsidiary in Switzerland is not part of the Sberbank Europe group. The bank in Switzerland continues to function normally,” she said.
The European Union sanctions seek to prevent Russian banks from having access to international capital markets.
On Tuesday the European Union’s banking regulator announced that Sberbank’s European subsidiary was authorized to declare bankruptcy, due to the sanctions.
The headquarters – located in Austria – employs 4,000 people and will be subject to insolvency proceedings, indicated the Single Resolution Board.
Sberbank announced solid results for 2021 on Wednesday, with a 64% rise in net profit, a year that will be greatly affected by the strong depreciation of the ruble.