Foreign banks block payments from Ukrainian companies' registered in temporarily occupied oblasts — NBU

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) announced the problem faced by Ukrainian businesses in the partially occupied oblasts: Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk.

NBU appealed to Ukrainian banks for help.

"Foreign banks block transactions involving legal entities [...] regardless of whether the relevant settlement is under the temporary Russian occupation or Ukraine-controlled," the NBU said.

"This is explained by the fact that foreign banks do not have a reliable source of data on these territories status. Therefore, this issue requires additional communication."

The NBU considers these "derisking measures" by foreign banks unfounded. The NBU recommends using a special page on the website of the Reintegration Ministry with a list of Ukraine's temporarily occupied settlements, and the recommendations of the relevant directorate general of the European Commission (DG FISMA).

Ukrainian banks may warn the partner bank about the content of the agreement before initiating a payment, provide additional documents regarding the company, and in the corresponding fields of the payment notification, specify comprehensive information about Ukraine-controlled location, where the paying client is registered.

The Ukrainian bank should contact the partner bank to find out the reasons for the refusal in the case of blocking a payment, and to agree on the amount of additional measures or information that the foreign bank needs.

The NBU asked the banks to report within a month on the results of the measures taken, and on problematic issues identified in communication with partner banks.

Central Asian banks are massively refusing to accept payments from Russia, it was reported earlier.

China's state banks are checking their clients' connections with Russia, it was reported on Jan. 16.