US sanctions affect Russian financial sector - NBU governor
NBU Governor Andrii Pyshnyi (facebook.comNationalBankOfUkraine)
The first results of the recent large-scale US sanctions package are already being felt, particularly in Russia's financial sector, citing the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andrii Pyshnyi.
According to Pyshnyi, ahead of Ukraine's Independence Day, the US imposed personal sanctions on 400 individuals and legal entities, including Russian enterprises and companies from third countries (China, UAE, and others), which operate in strategically important sectors of the Russian economy and are involved in sanctions circumvention schemes. Additionally, the US significantly tightened measures in the field of export control.
He emphasized the importance of the fact that this list includes three major Russian companies—leading providers of software and IT solutions for the banking and financial sectors:
- "Diasoft," one of the developers of the Central Bank of Russia's Financial Message Transfer System, which is under EU sectoral sanctions.
- "CFT," one of the largest IT service providers for the financial sector in Russia, collaborating with the Central Bank of Russia and developing the Russian payment system "Zolotaya Korona."
- "ATOL," a payment solutions supplier and POS terminals manufacturer, linked to the Sigmapay service for Russian transactions in Türkiye.
"These sanctions are the result of productive negotiations between the Ukrainian team, including representatives of the NBU, and the US sanctions team," added the NBU Governor.
Pyshnyi also said that one of the key focuses of the US Department of the Treasury is to caution foreign financial institutions and governments about the new branches of Russian banks. The US Treasury recommends that countries carefully consider granting permission to any Russian financial institution to open a new branch in their jurisdictions, as this could expose the financial systems of those countries to significant risks in terms of sanctions compliance.
"We are already witnessing an almost immediate effect of the sanctions package: several banks in Georgia and Kazakhstan have suspended transfers via the Russian payment system 'Zolotaya Korona,'" said the NBU Governor.
To recall, on August 23, the United States expanded sanctions against Russia. The new package covers around 400 entities, all of which are connected to some extent with Russia's fuel-energy and metallurgical sectors. These sanctions also target the financial sector and dual-use goods for Russia's military-industrial complex, which Russia has been receiving through sanctions evasion.
