The European Union (EU), within the framework of its 21st sanctions package, has removed the Azerbaijani “Yelo Bank” OJSC from the list of sanctions against Russia.
“Elchi” reports that a high-ranking representative of the European Commission in Brussels announced this.
According to the representative, the financial sector remains one of the main focuses of the EU’s sanctions policy, as a significant portion of operations related to circumventing restrictions is carried out precisely through banks.
“We were able to remove Azerbaijan’s ‘Yelo Bank’ from the list because it has separated from all Russian systems and implemented reliable measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions,” the European Commission representative stated.
At the same time, the EU continues to increase pressure on both Russian banks and banks in third countries that assist in circumventing sanctions.
In addition, within the framework of the 21st package, restrictions have been imposed on another 33 Russian banks. These banks are prohibited from conducting operations and are being disconnected from SWIFT, the financial messaging system.
According to the European Commission representative, the EU has focused on Russia’s large regional banks and financial institutions that have replaced banks already under sanctions.
Furthermore, due to their assistance in circumventing restrictions, sanctions have been imposed on three banks in third countries: one bank in Mongolia, two subsidiaries of Russia’s Sberbank and VTB in India, as well as a bank in Kyrgyzstan that continues to use Russia’s “Mir” payment system.
The European Commission representative noted that the threat of sanctions encourages many foreign banks to proactively review their operations and engage with European authorities to eliminate the risks of violating the sanctions regime.