VTB Group, a Russian state-owned bank, has asked its corporate customers to refrain from executing transactions in U.S. dollars and euros to 'minimize risks given the current situation'. However, in a letter sent to its clients, the bank stated that for now, all services are available and operating as usual. Additionally, the lender said that it has made preparations in place to continue working as normal.
The Ukraine crisis shows little sign of being addressed. The European Union and the United States have imposed new sanctions on Russia, particularly in the financial field, aimed at weakening Russia’s economy and increasing its financing costs.
Russia’s Central Bank began 'de-dollarizing' its economy years ago, to minimize the impact of the financial sanctions that the European Union and the United States had been threatening to impose on the country. Unhappy with the US dollar's domination of the global economy, the Bank of Russia has implemented de-dollarization policies to make the international financial order more dynamic, safeguard its monetary sovereignty and offset the impact of the financial sanctions by the US and the EU.
Advancing Financial Solutions
As a global provider of financial services, VTB bank is continuing to develop and provide its customers with the most advanced services.
In September 2019, VTB Forex LLC, a forex brokerage subsidiary business owned by VTB Group, appointed Sergey Zharov to serve as the CEO of the business unit. Zharov was tasked with preserving and strengthening VTB’s leading position in the forex market in Russia. The bank worked on achieving that by growing the business, improving its products and services and increasing customer loyalty.
In December last year, VTB partnered with Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, to launch a new payment service system, VTB Pay. The new service enables Wildberries users to have access to another convenient payment instrument that reduces the cost of accepting payments and increases conversions.
In short, VTB has continued to identify tremendous market interest in various innovations in financial solutions for businesses interested in reducing costs and customers who want to pay for purchases efficiently and grow their wealth.
