In a statement on the Norvik Bank website, Guselnikov praised Sberbank Ukraine’s “excellent infrastructure. He pledged to build the bank “on European principles of quality, transparency and accessibility.”
“We support Ukraine’s choice to be European and we believe that our work will help the future economic growth of the country,” he said.
Guselnikov also announced that Norvik Bank planned to reduce its presence in the Russian banking market in a bid to boost the efficiency of investments and eliminate “political risks.”
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko placed sanctions on five Russian state-owned banks operating in Ukraine, including Sberbank, on March 16.
Sberbank, as well as VTB, BM Bank, Prominvestbank and VS Bank, were blocked from transferring funds to their subsidiary or parent companies outside of Ukraine for a 12-month period.
The sanctions were linked to Sberbank’s decision to begin accepting documents issued from Ukraine’s breakaway republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.