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Russian Central Bank grants licenses to two Crimean banks

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Lavrov: Crimea is part of Russia

MOSCOW, August 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s Central Bank (CBR) has granted licenses to Crimea-based Bank Morskoi and Black Sea Bank of Development and Reconstruction (ChBRR) to conduct banking operations, including attracting retail deposits in rubles and foreign currency, the regulator said in a statement Monday.

The banks have also become members of Russia’s deposit insurance system, which means that each client will receive redemption of their deposits to the sum of up to 700,000 rubles if the banks lose their licenses.

Both banks operated in Crimea before it joined Russia in March, along with other 75 banks.

In May, Ukraine’s Central Bank prohibited the country’s banks from operating in Crimea and revoked licenses from several banks, including Bank Morskoi and ChBRR. In turn, Russia’s Central Bank allowed operations of the two banks in the region without a license upon some conditions.

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