MOSCOW, February 24 VTB head Andrei Kostin called the US accusations of circumventing sanctions groundless; his statement is available.
«I have never violated any, including American, legislation, I have never circumvented any sanctions — and I urge all my partners not to look for or invent any ways to circumvent, but to build a different world, independent of the pressure of the political elite and the military US lobby,» he said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the United States had brought charges against Kostin for allegedly violating sanctions, as well as for “money laundering” through the maintenance of two yachts and real estate at the resort Aspen in Colorado. In addition, as part of the case, two assistants to the banker were arrested — Vadim Volfson, aka Belyaev, and Gannon Bond. The US Department of Justice said in a statement that Kostin faces decades in prison on charges brought in absentia.
According to the head of VTB, “the loud statements of the American “themis” are intended to enhance the effect of the next “package” of sanctions.
“One can only express sympathy for the detainees who became victims of provocation. This matter does not evoke any more emotions,” Kostin added.
The banker indicated that he understands well how “the American establishment is angry” that the bank managed to minimize the damage from the sanctions. According to him, the “groundless accusations” brought by the American justice against him personally are “another proof of this.”
He recalled that two years ago, after the start of the SVO, the United States applied the most stringent, blocking sanctions against VTB Bank.
“Then I promised clients and partners — and then these were more than 16 million residents of Russia and thousands of Russian companies on which the Russian economy rests — to do everything possible and impossible to minimize the damage from the sanctions imposed on the bank. The VTB team coped with this «The task is worthy. The past two years have shown that we have long learned to cope with pressure — since 2014, when Russia returned Crimea home,» the banker said.
The head of the bank added that two years later, VTB is again showing record profits and is starting to implement a development strategy until 2026.
He noted that one of the key tasks of the organization is systemic support for structural transformations of the Russian economy.
«We know how to do this, have done it and will continue to do it. VTB is the backbone bank of the country, and no matter what sanctions are imposed on Russian companies, we will always be close to our partners and provide them with all the necessary help and support. Friends We know each other in adversity, together we have gone through more than one crisis. We are coping even now,” concluded Kostin.
After the start of the Russian military special operation in Ukraine, Western countries increased sanctions pressure on Moscow. As President Vladimir Putin noted, the policy of containing and weakening Russia is the long-term strategy of the West, but sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the main goal of the United States and its allies is to worsen the lives of millions of people.
Nevertheless, Russia is coping with sanctions pressure, and in the West itself there have been more than once opinions that these restrictions are ineffective. But, as Moscow emphasized, the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of its anti-Russian sanctions policy.