Sberbank CZ, which has ties to Russia, closed its branches in the Czech Republic today at 2 p.m, announced the bank spokeswoman Radka Černá. According to her, the reason is security problems at branches. On Thursday and today, queues of people formed in front of some of the bank’s branches, who wanted to cancel services or asked for information about the bank’s operation. Around this afternoon, Sberbank CZ’s internet banking did not work.
Today, after the government meeting, Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) reminded that the deposits of bank clients, including Sberbank, are legally insured up to EUR 100,000 (approximately CZK 2.5 million) for one depositor at one bank or credit union. The Czech National Bank has announced that it is monitoring and resolving the situation around Sberbank. At the bank’s branches in Brno and Prague, the situation was monitored by police and police officers at the request of the staff, but according to the findings of the Czech News Agency, they did not intervene.
“Given that the Czech branch represents a small fraction of Sberbank’s total assets, its mother can easily supply its domestic operations with liquidity,” said Cyrrus analyst Tomáš Pfeiler. Its collapse in the Czech Republic is not expected. Sberbank was established on the floor plan of the former Volksbank, which it took over. This in itself was very marginal. “Despite all efforts, Sberbank did not manage to find another clientele in the Czech Republic. The impact of the Russian bank’s departure on the domestic market would be zero,” added EMA data founder Jiří Paták.
Some banks have already noted the arrival of clients from Sberbank. “Since Thursday, we have been seeing increased interest from Sberbank clients in opening a new bank account at Air Bank,” said bank spokeswoman Jana Pokorná. Raiffeisenbank spokeswoman Petra Kopecká confirmed the same.
“Unfortunately, security problems have appeared at our branches. Our employees are mostly citizens of the Czech Republic and we must provide them with increased security protection because they face physical attacks,” said Černá.
For this reason, according to her, the bank was forced to close its branches from today at 14:00 and provide a security service to protect the employees of the branches. The bank expects that in the coming days the branches will be open again as standard, clients can use online banking and ATMs. Sberbank CZ clients can use any ATM in the Czech Republic and abroad, if they have an account with us, they have free withdrawals, added Černá.
For example, in the Brno branch of Sberbank in Heršpická Street, a crowd of clients tried to withdraw money from ATMs at the last minute, so the staff asked the police for assistance, their spokesman Jakub Ghanem said. In Prague, according to spokeswoman Irena Seifertová, the police assisted in the morning at the branches on I. P. Pavlova Square and Na Příkopech Street. “Both branches received requests from employees for help with dissatisfied clients. The police calmed the situation on the spot and subsequently the bank’s security guard took over again,” said Seifertová.
Police also monitored the situation at three Sberbank branches in Prague. Spokeswoman Violeta Siřišťová said that the reason was an announcement from the bank’s employees that they fear aggression from clients. According to her, the police did not have to intervene.
Around 12:30, about a dozen people were waiting for I.P. Pavlov in Prague in front of the Sberbank branch, which, according to the branch employee, is not usual during a lunch break. “Usually there’s at most one person,” she said. The waiters mostly wanted to transfer money. “I want to transfer money elsewhere. In principle,” a waiting client stated.
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some Czech companies are announcing a boycott of the services of Sberbank CZ, which has ties to Russia. “We strongly recommend our advisors and branches to stop using, recommending and mediating this bank immediately. In this context, we also exclude it from the bonus remuneration,” said Petr Borkovec, the founder of the financial advisory company Partners.
“The Czech National Bank not only monitors the situation around Sberbank as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also resolves it in a supervisory manner,” said Markéta Fišerová.
The main shareholder of Sberbank CZ is Vienna-based Sberbank Europe, a subsidiary of the largest Russian banking house Sberbank Russia. In addition, its 50% owner with one voting right is the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The rest are owned by investors, the bank trades on the stock exchange. Sberbank CZ is regulated and supervised by the Czech National Bank. It has been operating in the Czech Republic since 1993, and until 2013 it operated under the name Volksbank. It has 25 branches and about 120,000 clients.
Source: CTK
