BRUSSLS, March 5. /TASS/. The European Commission’s position that Russian banks that have been disconnected from SWIFT can use fax or e-mail to make transactions with European banks are void, since European banks cannot operate in this regime, two separate sources in the banking sector told TASS on Sunday.
"The European Union’s sanction policy has created such a high level of risks for the banking sector in working with Russian clients that banks often opt to sever contracts with organizations who are merely partners of the banks and other structures covered by the sanctions or when even at least one of their beneficiaries is on the blacklist. In the current situation, relations with a bank facing EU sanctions of any level are, as a matter of fact, impossible for European financial organizations, regardless of possible losses stemming from it," an expert said.
Another specialist described these EU explanations as "evident but senseless" from the practical point of view.
According to a source in Brussels’ analytical structures, the European Union’s allegations that the disconnection from SWIFT will be no obstacle for Russia’s Rosselkhozbank transactions with European banks stem from the discussions on the extension of the grain deal. "There is nothing new in the European Commission’s explanation that were released on February 28. It was clear before them that the blacklisted Russian banks, which have been disconnected from SWIFT but not facing blocking EU sanctions, were not barred from using alterative ways of exchanging financial messages. It looks like this publication is linked with the ongoing discussions between the European Union and the United Nations around the issue of extending the Black Sea Initiative, which expires on March 18, since Russia demands the European Union lift its sanctions off Rosselkhozbank," he said.