Unicredit Suspends Operations in Crimea

MILAN--Italian bank UniCredit has suspended its operations and shut down all its 14 branches in the Ukrainian-crisis hit region of Crimea, according to a statement issued by UniCredit's Ukrainian unit published on its website Tuesday.

"The bank, which operates under the laws of Ukraine, has no longer a legal basis for the functioning and providing banking services in the region," the bank said in the statement.

The closure of the branches doesn't affect its liabilities to its customers, while at the same time it will continue to service current, card, deposit accounts and loans in its branches in other regions of Ukraine, the bank said.

Crimean depositors can withdraw funds from branches in other regions of Ukraine, it added.

At the beginning of March, escalating tensions over Russian military intervention in Ukraine started to affect banks in Crimea.

At the time, UniCredit's unit in Ukraine announced on its website that it was limiting cash withdrawals from its ATMs to 1,500 hryvnia ($114) per 24 hours. The bank said it was taking the step "in order to provide all the clients with an access to cash money" and that the limits would be removed "in the nearest time with the normalization of the situation."

Around mid-March, when the bank announced its full year results, Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni said UniCredit was in talks to sell its Ukrainian unit.

Write to Giovanni Legorano at [e-mail]

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