The European Union has decided to exclude seven Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system and prohibit the sale, supply, transfer, or export of euro-denominated banknotes to Russia.
This was announced in a statement on the website of the Council of the European Union, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"The council today introduced further restrictive measures in view of the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine," the statement said.
In particular, according to the statement, the council decided to prohibit the provision of specialized financial messaging services that are used to exchange financial data (SWIFT) to Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sovcombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), and VTB Bank.
This prohibition will enter into force on the tenth day after the publication in the Official Journal of the EU, and it will also apply to any legal person, entity, or body established in Russia whose proprietary rights are directly or indirectly owned for more than 50% by the above-mentioned banks, the statement said.
The council also prohibited the sale, supply, transfer, or export of euro-denominated banknotes to Russia or any natural or legal person, entity, or body in Russia, including the government and the Central Bank of Russia, or for use in Russia.
It also prohibited investment, participation, or otherwise contribution to future projects co-financed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced on February 26 that technical preparations to ban Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) had begun.
Russian troops attacked Ukraine from Russia and Belarus at about 05:00 a.m. on February 24.
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