Qiwi reports almost 2% of assets blocked due to sanctions against Russian banks

MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - Sanctions imposed against certain Russian banks have led to restrictions on Qiwi assets equivalent to 2.015 billion rubles, the payment services group reported in its report for 2022.

This amounted to 1.8% of Qiwi's total assets, which grew by 33.3% last year to 111.926 billion rubles as of December 31, 2022.

Qiwi also said there is a risk of assets being blocked due to some foreign institutions' interpretation of sanctions. In order to carry out treasury operations, the group holds some publicly traded debt instruments and cash at foreign banks and other financial institutions.

"As some of these banks and financial institutions tend to take a conservative interpretation of sanctions requirements or otherwise to impose restrictions on Russian businesses' investments and funds driven by an overall reputational or other considerations, they may freeze publicly traded debt securities and cash funds due to procedural issues caused by enhanced compliance considerations. There is no assurance that non-Russian banks or other financial institutions will not take such actions in the future in relation to a material portion of our assets in connection with sanctions imposed on the Russian financial sector, including sanctions related to Russian state financial instruments, or otherwise," Qiwi said.