Russian Duma Speaker Urges EU to Assess Vandalizing State’s Banks in Ukraine

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian parliament's lower house, called Wednesday on the European parliaments to give an assessment to the radicals' vandalism against Russia’s Sberbank and Alfa-Bank in Ukraine.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ukrainian radicals blocked the entrance into the central office of Sberbank, locking over 400 employees inside on Monday and continued to hinder the access to the bank the following day, according to the Bank’s address to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, published Tuesday. Besides, the Sberbank and Alfa-Bank’s ATMs in Ukraine have been subjected to vandalism by the radicals.

"There is a proposal to the Financial Markets and Foreign Affairs Committees to prepare an address to the EU states’ parliaments, EU parliament, PACE, Secretary General of the Council of Europe … We believe our colleagues from the European parliaments should give it [the situation] an assessment," Volodin said, referring to the present situation around Sberbank and Alfa-Bank.

Volodin noted that he considered the situation unacceptable with regard to banks and financial institutions and to "unprecedented pressure" on the banks’ employees.

The address might be considered by the Russian State Duma on Friday, Volodin added.

In response to the radicals’ actions Sberbank will temporarily restrict the cash withdrawal from current accounts for individuals in bank offices to approximately $1,100 starting from Wednesday.