The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) allowed the country’s banks to block transactions and forcibly close the accounts of Ukrainian individuals and legal entities for refusing to provide information about the presence or absence of economic ties with the Russian Federation. This was announced on Wednesday, June 7, by Strana.ua, citing letters from the NBU to banks.

The publication reports that since March, the NBU began to require banks to check their clients, both individuals and legal entities, as well as their partners and counterparties for ties with Russia. At the same time, bank customers often either refused to answer or did not provide all the information needed by financial institutions.

As a result of complaints from Ukrainian banks about the refusal of their clients to provide the necessary information, the NBU issued relevant clarifications in which it allowed Ukrainian banks to stop financial transactions, as well as block or forcibly close clients’ accounts unilaterally, Strana.ua says.

At the same time, Ukrainian banks will be able to carry out unilateral actions with customer accounts not only in case of their refusal to provide information, but also in cases of providing incomplete or inaccurate information. The publication also reports that financial institutions will have to store the information received from customers and transfer it to the NBU in case of requests from it.

Earlier, on June 3, the NBU obliged all commercial banks in the country to report on payments by Ukrainians on cards, regardless of the amount. At the same time, for Internet payments, the National Bank required to provide detailed information not only about the payer, but also about the recipient.

Earlier, on May 8, it was reported that the World Bank (WB) under the loan program allocated almost €190 million to Ukraine to pay salaries to civil servants and teachers.