The TCS Group Holding-owned Russian online bank, Tinkoff, announced on Sunday that it would stop dealing in euros as of Monday as a result of new sanctions imposed by the European Union.
Late on Friday, the EU approved a tenth round of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The plan involves disconnecting more institutions from the SWIFT international payments network, including Tinkoff and the private Alfa-Bank.
According to Tinkoff in a statement, “Withdrawals in euros will be available. Euro trading will be suspended from Feb. 27, 2023,” adding that trading in other currencies will not be impacted.
Tinkoff said in a second statement that it has devised sanctions-resistance sanctions-resistance procedures that would enable the transfer of assets to a new, non-sanctioned firm within three weeks.
The Tinkoff Bank was established by businessman, Oleg Tinkov, who has become an open critic of Russian President, Vladimir Putin and his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Due to the war in Ukraine, Tinkov declared in November 2021 that he had renounced his Russian citizenship.
Following a series of anti-war remarks, Tinkoff was compelled to sell his 35% ownership in the bank’s parent company, TCS, to Russian metals tycoon, Vladimir Potanin last April.
