The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has increased the issuance of cash to banks to replenish ATMs. This was announced on Friday, February 25, by the press service of regulator.
“The demand for cash has grown in recent days. The Bank of Russia continuously provides cash to banks for loading into ATMs during the working week. <...> The volume of banknotes ready for loading into ATMs is more than sufficient,” the message says.
It is noted that all customer funds on bank accounts are kept in full and are available for any transactions.
Earlier the same day, the Central Bank assured the Russians of the stable operation of the cards of all payment systems in the country. They, as noted by the regulator, work and will continue to work throughout Russia for payments, transfers and transactions through ATMs without restrictions. The Central Bank also reported that the services Apple Pay and Google Pay will stop working with cards of banks that fell under blocking sanctions.
In addition, on Friday, Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Otkritie Bank and other Russian lenders issued a joint statement to support clients amid sanctions and report sufficient liquidity.
The day before, the United States imposed sanctions against Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Otkritie, Sovcombank, VTB, Rosselkhozbank, Moscow Credit Bank (MCB) and Novikombank. With regard to Sberbank, restrictions were imposed on correspondent and payment accounts. At the beginning of the week, Promsvyazbank also fell under the restrictive measures of the United States and the European Union.
In the above banks, Izvestia was told that all their systems and offices are operating normally in Russia. The sanctions will only affect the use of bank cards abroad. Customers who are currently abroad are advised to withdraw cash or pay with cards from other banks.
On the morning of February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his special televised address, announced that a special operation would be carried out in the Donbass in order to protect the civilian population. Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stressed that this cannot be called a war. He pointed out that the Russian authorities are still open for dialogue, but they do not intend to allow a new bloody massacre in the Donbass.
After that, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout Ukrainian territory. Later, it was announced the severance of diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.
On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR). Also, the President of the Russian Federation and the heads of both republics, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance, which were ratified by the republics themselves and Moscow the next day.
The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17. The DPR and LPR reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
Since 2014, the Kiev authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.
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