Swedbank will soon halt operations in Russian rubles

TALLINN. March 15 (Interfax) - Swedbank will soon cease providing financial services in Russian rubles, including effecting payments and foreign currency exchange operations, the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian banks of the Swedbank group said in a statement.

"Swedbank complies with all requirements related to the sanctions imposed by the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Given the possibility of new sanctions, access to the Russian financial system and its market infrastructure is becoming extremely limited. In this regard, customers at any time could lose the possibility of rendering transactions in Russian rubles," Swedbank warns.

In Latvia and Estonia, the bank will continue to render payments in rubles until March 16, inclusive, following which transfers will not be effected in the Russian currency. It is necessary to convert rubles in bank accounts into another currency prior to March 18.

In Lithuania, Swedbank plans to effect operations in Russian rubles slightly longer until April 14, at which time the bank will cease providing financial services in Russian rubles, including payments and foreign currency exchange operations.

"We would like to draw attention to the fact that owing to the announced sanctions, it will be impossible to render transfers to certain banks. Therefore, prior to transferring funds, check whether a particular bank is included in the list of sanctioned banks," Swedbank said in the statement.