Andrey Kostin, head of Russia’s VTB bank, said Western banks are ready to swap their assets in Russia for Russian banks held, but the political leadership of the European Union does not allow this.
In an interview with the Vedomosti newspaper, he stated that “Western banks are ready to exchange assets … they are interested, but the political authorities are preventing this … it just seems that there is freedom of action.”
“We have made such an offer, and we are ready to exchange our assets for the assets of European banks,” he said. “I repeat, there is an interest on their part. The political leadership of the European Union does not allow this … it may mature later,” Kostin said.
The Russian banker stressed that foreign companies had a chance to withdraw assets from Russia, while the foreign assets of Russian banks are currently under sanctions and “just plundered.”
Source: TASS