The European Union has agreed to exclude seven Russian banks from the Swift financial messaging network.
The banks selected for exclusion include Russia's second-largest bank VTB, alongside state-owned entitites propping up the Putin regime VEB, Otkritie FC, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank and Sovcombank.
EU president Ursula von der Leyen says: “At the speed of light, the European Union has adopted three waves of heavy sanctions against Russia's financial system, its high-tech industries and its corrupt elite. This is the largest sanctions package in our Union's history. Today's decision to disconnect key Russian banks from the Swift network will send yet another very clear signal to Putin and the Kremlin.”
The exclusion order is expected to take effect within ten days, giving Swift time to implement the necessary technical work and mitigate any possible negative impacts for EU businesses and financial markets.
"Depending on Russia's behaviour, the Commission is prepared to add further Russian banks at short notice," states the EU.
Russia's largest commercial bank Sberbank escaped the ban, but has nevertheless been forced to withdraw from the European market due to liquidity shortages.
Gazprombank has also been excluded, reflecting the need for some Western countries to retain a conduit for the payment of essential oil and gas supplies from Russia.
In addition, the EU has prohibited investing in projects co-financed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The provision of euro-denominated banknotes to Russia has also been prohibited.