- Title: UKRAINE: Largest Ukraine bank closes Donetsk branches for safety
- Date: 6th May 2014
- Summary: DONETSK, UKRAINE (MAY 6, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS PRIVAT BANKBRANCH CLIENT BY CLOSED DOOR NOTE ON DOOR SAYING THE BANK IS CLOSED FOR SECURITY REASONS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEPUTY BRANCH MANAGER OF PRIVATBANK STANISLAV GEYR, SAYING|: "The closure of Privatbank branches is a temporary measure due to an extraordinary situation in our region. The number of attacks on Privatbank has been rising. As for now over 70 ATMs, offices and collector cars have been damaged or taken. Because of that bank managers decided that it was impossible to ask employees people go to work under such conditions and put our clients in jeopardy. Every client using an ATM is under immediate threat." GEYER'S HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEPUTY BRANCH MANAGER OF PRIVATBANK STANISLAV GEYR, SAYING|: "No accounts have been blocked, all are accessible. So is Privat-24 self-service system that they can use for paying bills. All these options are still available. The only issue today is withdrawing cash." VARIOUS PRIVATBANK BRANCH
- Embargoed: 21st May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAC9PX9CKURRCC8WTOOWUWFN349
- Story Text: Ukraine's largest bank has temporarily closed branches in separatist-held Donetsk and Luhansk, saying it could no longer carry out cash transactions in regions riddled with crime that could "threaten the lives" of its workers.
Pro-Russian separatists have targeted Privatbank, after its co-owner, billionaire Igor Kolomoisky, was appointed by the new government, head of the nearby Dnipropetrovsk region and swiftly announced a $10,000 bounty on the heads of Russian "saboteurs".
"The closure of Privat Bank branches is a temporary measure due to an extraordinary situation in our region. The number of attacks on Privat Bank has been rising. As for now over 70 ATMs, offices and collector cars have been damaged or taken. Because of that bank managers decided that it was impossible to ask employees people go to work under such conditions and put our clients in jeopardy. Every client using an ATM is under immediate threat," said deputy manager of a Privat Bank in Donetsk Stanislav Geyr.
"No accounts have been blocked, all are accessible. So is Privat-24 self-service system that they can use for paying bills. All these options are still available. The only issue today is withdrawing cash," he added.
Rebels, who say they want independence from Kiev, set fire to a branch in the town of Mariupol in the Donetsk region late on Saturday and raided a security truck last week in Horlivka, south of the region's main rebel stronghold.
"In the current circumstances we cannot and do not have the right to make people go to work in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where armed people break into bank branches and seize security vans in the towns," Privatbank said in a statement.
It said its clients could access their accounts via the Internet and mobile devices, use their cards in shops and make cashless transactions at self-service terminals.
The bank processes more than 400,000 pensions and other social benefits for 220,000 people in both regions.
Kolomoisky, Ukraine's fourth richest man, according to Forbes magazine, has become a hate figure for the pro-Russian separatists after he said he would give $10,000 to Ukrainian troops for every "saboteur" handed over.
The leader of the regional militia in Dnipropetrovsk, which borders Donetsk, also said $1,000 would be paid for a rifle, $1,500 for a machinegun and $2,000 for a grenade-launcher.
Dnipropetrovsk has been quiet since separatists started taking control of wide swathes of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions last month, in an operation blamed on Moscow by Kiev's new pro-Western leaders.
Russia, which has long considered Slavic Ukraine an extension of its own country, denies any involvement in the unrest, saying Russian speakers are simply protecting their rights from attacks by a hostile government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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