“This is due to unprecedented pressure from the United States.” Turkish banks explained the closure of Russian accounts

Some Turkish banks began to close accounts of Russian companies and tightened the requirements for individuals who want to get a card. This was reported by Vedomosti with reference to business owners trading with Turkey.

It became known that the country’s financial institutions abruptly began to stop processing payments from Russia from the beginning of 2024. It is noted that these calculations are still frozen. At the same time, one of the publication’s interlocutors explained that accounts of Russian companies were closed back in 2022, but the trend began to worsen at the end of 2023 after the decree of US President Joe Biden on December 22. It is known that he allows the US Treasury to introduce measures against foreign banks that help carry out transactions with sanctioned persons from Russia.

In Turkey, this trend was explained by pressure from the United States

A source in the country's banking sector explained that such measures are related to US sanctions.

At the moment, servicing corporate clients with roots in Russia has already been stopped, regardless of the country of registration, clarified consultant for Russian business in terms of structuring international payments Iskander Mirgalimov.

He explained that Russian companies have begun to be advised to complete transactions with Turkish banks and close accounts. This applies primarily to businesses that used Turkey as a transit country for payments and deliveries, as well as oil and gas traders.

Money transfers between countries have virtually stopped since January 1

Turkish banks began to refuse to work with Russian ones for fear of US sanctions against them, it was noted on January 17. This meant both the severance of correspondent relations and the suspension of payment processing without formal closure of contracts. At the same time, exceptions were mentioned in the form of “subsidiaries of foreign banks in Russia.”

Ekonomim reported that remittances between countries have practically stopped since January 1, and exporters in Turkey are waiting for urgent decisions to continue trading.

Checks against Russian clients are also observed in other countries

Due to the risk of falling under secondary US sanctions, Chinese state-owned banks have also tightened their due diligence on Russian clients. We are talking about at least two financial organizations in the country.

It was reported that Chinese banks want to sever ties with clients on the sanctions list. In addition, banks will refuse to provide any services to the Russian military industry, not only in dollars, but also in other currencies. In addition, the country's credit institutions wanted to strengthen the verification of their clients for connections with Russia. We are talking about immigrants from Russia and companies that do business there or supply critical goods through third countries. State banks took this step after the US Treasury announced its intention to use secondary sanctions against organizations that facilitate Russian purchases of equipment for the military industry.

Cyprus followed a similar path, where large banks also tightened checks against Russian clients. The country's largest bank, Bank of Cyprus, began notifying Russian clients about the imminent closure of their accounts in early April last year.