Ukraine’s PrivatBank blocks Belarusian accounts
Ukraine's state-owned PrivatBank is blocking the card accounts of Belarusians, news outlet Radio Svaboda wrote on April 14.
PrivatBank has blocked card accounts and cancelled contracts with Belarusian residents. They can now only withdraw money with restrictions and are forbidden from transferring money to other people via the Privatbank app. They can only transfer money to another account in person. To do this, Belarusians must bring their ID and the details of their personal account at another bank.
Many Belarusians do not have accounts in other countries, nor do they have the possibility to exit Ukraine.
Specifically, accounts belonging to Belarusians with only temporary residence permits in Ukraine have been restricted, while those who have a permanent residence are able to still use their accounts without additional limitations.
Ukrainian banks had already blocked Belarusian accounts following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some companies and individuals managed to unblock their accounts in summer 2022 after thorough inspection by Ukraine's SBU security service.
Two large Georgian banks, the Bank of Georgia and TBC, restricted the issue of new cards to Russians in March 2022.
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