Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 20 / Trend I. Khalilova /
Azerbaijani KapitalBank notified its clients and employees to be cautious while establishing relations with Belarusian companies against which the U.S. applied economic sanctions. It is done to protect the interests of its clients and employees. In this regard, the bank's branches have the relevant announcement.
The U.S. sanctions were imposed against the tire manufacturer Belshina, the fertilizer manufacturer Grodno Nitrogen, the fiber manufacturer Grodno Khimvolokno and major refiner Naftan on Aug. 11.
According to Trend's poll conducted among several banks, including one of the largest banks - International Bank of Azerbaijan, acting on the banking market, it is clear that only KapitalBank made this warning to its customers.
The representatives of banks say that these notices usually appear in a centralized manner from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. Such an appeal was not received from this bank. However, banks may be warned by their foreign partners.
For example, one of the leading banks in Azerbaijan received a letter from one of Europe's banks that the Azerbaijani bank strengthened precautions while working with a commercial bank in Syria. The U.S. announced about sanctions against Syria's largest bank - the state-controlled Commercial Bank of Syria in August 2011. Washington accused the bank of rendering financial services to China.
"The task of each bank is to protect its customers against possible risks," KapitalBank told Trend. "From this point of view, the current activity of banks takes into account the official data of state bodies on economic sanctions and similar issues used by foreign countries in respect of any company. A warning brought to the attention of bank customers, is also based on official information received by the bank. This serves to protect the interests of customers."
New sanctions were imposed in addition to the restriction on entry, asset freeze and other sanctions, announced on January 31. These measures are directed against those responsible for repression in Belarus following the presidential elections on December 19.
The sanctions prohibit U.S. legal and physical entities to have financial relations with these companies. Naftan is under the control of the Belneftekhim concern. There are U.S. similar sanctions against it long ago. Besides Belneftekhim, there were the U.S. economic sanctions against Lakokraska, Polotsk glass fiber, Beltechexport and Belomo.
"Naftan", "Grodno Nitrogen" and "Belshina" are among the five largest joint stock companies in Belarus. The measures against Naftan and Belneftekhim concern are especially dangerous. The export of oil products is the largest source of foreign currency in the country. According to the Belarusian Finance Ministry, about 40 percent of foreign earnings fall to this.
All four companies - Belshina, Grodno Nitrogen, Grodno Khimvolokno and Naftan export their products mainly to Russia and Europe. The trade volume with the U.S is small.