Ukrainians experience difficulties with opening accounts in foreign banks

Senior partner at the Ilyashev and Partners law firm Roman Marchenko says Ukrainians have difficulties with opening accounts in foreign banks due to reluctance of some financial institutions to check whether individuals or companies are included in the sanctions list.

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"There are sanctions imposed against a number of Ukrainian companies and citizens. Banks simply do not want to bother checking whether a certain citizen is among such individuals. The cost of such vetting may exceed the benefit from cooperation with a client," the lawyer told UNIAN, commenting on problems with opening accounts in Great Britain for companies owned by Ukrainian citizens.

According to Marchenko, signing a contract with a client is not an obligation of a bank, but it is a right. So, a financial institution can decide not to service a client without explaining reasons.

"This is a right of a bank, and it is necessary to go to another bank. Sometimes the situation is even worse – they close accounts without explanation. But there are banks that are loyal to their customers. They are ready to discuss and solve such problems," Marchenko added.

The lawyer recommended choosing the right bank and preparing necessary documents, for example, lawyers' conclusion stating that no sanctions were imposed against a company or a person.

Monobank co-founder Dmytro Dubilet also noted problems with opening accounts in UK-based banks by companies owned by Ukrainians because of sanctions slapped over Russian aggression. In May 2018, he announced plans to open a mobile app-based bank in the UK. Dubilet says that Britain's sanctions list includes Ukrainian representatives but not Russian ones.

The National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine have not yet commented at UNIAN's request on such problems of Ukrainians with foreign banks.