By Andrea Hargraves 
European intervention in Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, led to its expulsion from the European Union. The heart of operations in Austria goes to bankruptcy, and subsidiaries in Croatia and Slovenia have new owners: among them are the Croatian and Slovenian states themselves. It is, therefore, a change in the states subject to ownership. After the intervention, the Russian bank itself came to say that it was leaving the continent (except for Switzerland).
Since Monday, it has been known that after deposits leaked, The European Central Bank had fired the launch pistol So that everything was different in the European arms of Sberbank, giving it the stamp of “in peril or in bankruptcy”. With that, preparations have begun by the Individual Decision Council, the European responsible for interventions in European banks.
The resolution, After stopping the freeze for two days, the decision was made on March 1, different situations came: on the one hand, the Austrian insolvency; On the other hand, Croatian and Slovenian continuity. In the case of deposits, there is protection of up to €100,000 for applications made in the Austrian bank, and a full guarantee on applications made in Croatian and Slovenian banks, as they pass to another owner.
There is no money from the single decision fund
Today, we work to protect the public interest and ensure financial stability. All this was done without the need to use public funds, so not only Sberbank customers, but also taxpayers were protected, said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Single Board, Elke König. The European Commission endorsed the decision of the Single Decision Council, the implementation of which is now up to each of the national authorities.
There is no help from the Single Solution Fund, in which European banks contribute to the payment of difficulties in a banking entity, as the European Commission points out, in the decision authorizing the decision-making. This means that Portuguese banks do not participate in these operations.
According to the European Commission, “the banks were at risk of bankruptcy, there were no private solutions outside the settlement system, there were no supervisory procedures to prevent bankruptcy, and the settlement procedure was necessary in the public interest.”
Even if there is no direct European money, the fact is that the new owners have money from the respective taxpayers.
The new owners of the state
The Single Resolution Board decided to transfer all shares of Sberbank subsidiary in Croatia to Hrvatska Poštanska Banka dd [HPB, o banco postal croata] And all shares of Sbrebank subsidiary in Slovenia to Nova ljubljanska banka (NLB). “This option means that the banks opened on Wednesday, March 2, without problems, both for depositors and for customers. “They are now part of well-established, strong and stable banking groups.”
In the case of Croatian activityHe is the new shareholder of the Russian Bank HPB, a Croatian public capital institution, which holds a market share of 5.6% of the assets of that country’s banking system from the Balkans. The Republic of Croatia owns 45% of the capital, as well as other entities of the state, such as the Postal Services Corporation, the Deposit Guarantee System and Pensions.
The Croatian official states that “all deposits of citizens and companies, regardless of size, are completely safe.” In the Slovenian case too.
The Slovenian institution that owns Sberbank in the country Its capital is the Republic of Slovenia. NBL is the country’s largest international bank, public – recently privatized, the Slovenian state owns 25% of the capital, and is the largest shareholder. It has other shareholders, including Schroders and BERD.
Austrian and Czech insolvency
In the opposite direction, the bank in Austria said: “The individual decision board has decided that the decision of Austrian Sberbabank Europe AG is not necessary. The insolvency proceedings will be followed in accordance with national law.”
The authority’s conclusion is that this unit, despite being the heart of the other entities, did not perform “critical functions” for the economy, and that insolvency would not have a negative impact on Austrian financial stability (“its discontinuation would not disrupt essential services for Austria’s real economy, nor would it disrupt stability Finance in Austria and other Member States”).
According to the Austrian supervisorAccording to the instructions of the European Central Bank (which is the direct supervisory authority of the institution), the deposit guarantee system will have to pay up to 100 thousand euros per order within 10 working days.
Since the Austrian bank ceased to exist, the freedom to provide the services that it had in Portugal also ceased to exist.
Others paid it alone
Sberbank It has a presence in other European countries, but these three entities were those which, being independent, were under the direct supervision of the European Central Bank due to the transnational dimension of the group. in the czech republic, The unit of Sberbank – which is not directly supervised by the European Central Bank, but by the national authority – has already seen its banking license revoked, and it also guarantees the payment of deposits of up to 100,000 euros in the next seven days. The Czech security system has already guaranteed that she has the money to pay all eligible deposits.
It is this move that dictates the future of Sberbank in Europe, which had an agreement since last year to sell operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia – the Russian war ended those plans. The end happened and without getting any money.
The Moscow Stock Exchange closed, and Russia’s largest bank abandoned the European market
By the way, in addition to the decision of the European banking authorities, Sberbank also announced the withdrawal of its presence from Europe (with the exception of Switzerland). According to a statement carried by international newspapers, the Russian Central Bank was ordered out of Europe due to its inability to provide liquidity to European subsidiaries – foreign currency will be kept in the country. In addition to the decision, the Russian group also justifies the departure with “threats to the safety of personnel and counters” felt by countries, As reported by Reuters.