EU cuts off seven major Russian banks from SWIFT

The European Union has disconnected Russian banks subject to sanctions from the SWIFT global payment network. Seven major lenders in the country have been targeted, including VTB, Rossiya, Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, and VEB.RF. Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, is not on the list for now. The news was announced in the EU’s official journal on Wednesday.

The banks now have 10 days to stop their SWIFT operations. According to a senior EU official, those on the list were selected based on their connections to the Russian government.

“All these banks that we have listed under SWIFT... are all [included] based on their connection to the state and the implicit connection to the war effort. We have not gone for a blanket ban across the whole banking system,” the official said.

Neither Sberbank nor Gazprombank has so far been targeted, as they are the main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, which have not yet faced EU penalties. The two will be subject to other sanctions, however, the official stated.

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