Ukraine accuses US and European banks over Russia links, 15 July 2022

The Ukrainian government has told US and European bank bosses to sever ties with groups that trade Russian oil, as a top aide to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the lenders of “war crimes”.

Oleg Ustenko, economic adviser to Zelenskyy, wrote to bankers including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon and HSBC’s Noel Quinn, asking them to stop financing companies that trade Russian oil and sell shares in state-backed oil and gas groups Gazprom and Rosneft.

In the letters, seen by the Financial Times, which were sent this week and also went to Citigroup and Crédit Agricole, banks were accused of “prolonging” the war by providing credit to companies that ship Russian oil and told they would be blocked from participating in the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine. In an interview with the FT, Ustenko said that Ukraine’s Ministry for Justice intends to sue the banks at the International Criminal Court once the war ends, and that Ukraine’s security services were collecting information on the financial institutions supporting Russian fossil fuels...

HSBC’s and Crédit Agricole’s asset management arms hold shares in Gazprom and Rosneft, Russia’s state oil and gas firms. Citigroup provides credit facilities to Russian oil and gas giant Lukoil and to Vitol, which trades in Russian oil, according to the letters...

Citigroup and Crédit Agricole did not respond to Ustenko’s comments directly, but reiterated their previous statements about suspending and paring back activities in Russia. HSBC declined to comment. HSBC and Citigroup are in talks with potential acquirers for their local businesses...