Russian bank subsidiaries based in the European Union will be exempt from EU economic sanctions designed to choke off finance for big state-owned Russian lenders, sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Wednesday.
These sources said the exemption, which EU officials said they would monitor closely to avoid abuse, meant Sberbank and VTB subsidiaries could operate normally within EU member states.
The step will come as a relief to Austria, where the two big state-controlled Russian lenders have the headquarters of their European operations, the sources said.
Hungary and Slovakia had also said the latest sanctions – aimed at punishing Moscow for …read more
Source: Voice of America
