KIEV, March 1. /TASS/. The national security and defense council of Ukraine (NSDC) prolonged sanctions against Russian banks on Thursday, press secretary of the Ukrainian president Svyatoslav Tsegolko tweeted.

"The NSDC continues sanctions against Russian banks," he wrote on Twitter.

"Net assets of Ukrainian banks with the Russian state capital declined by a third throughout 2017 and funds of individuals and legal entities deposited with them declined by 28 and 34% respectively," Tsegolko added.

In March 2017, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko imposed sanctions against five banks with Russian state capital operating on the Ukrainian market. Sanctions were introduced for a year against Sberbank, VS Bank, Prominvestbank, VTB Bank and BM Bank (owned by VTB).