Belarusian travel agencies affected by sanctions imposed on Russian banks?
Belarusian travel agencies are facing problems with money orders for their partners in Russian banks abroad.
Belvnesheconombank delayed a major Belarusian travel agency’s dollar order for a week, Tourism i Otdyh reports. The agency needed to transfer money via American correspondent accounts – dozens of thousands dollars. Bank employees unofficially explained to the travel agency that the problems had been caused by the sanctions imposed by the European Union and USA on a number of Russian structures.
According to travel agencies, foreign partners may refuse to accept tourists if they do not receive money for their tours.
The delay cannot be caused by the sanctions, BelVEB deputy CEO Andrei Ramanenka claimed. The sanctions do not affect payments in any way, they only forbid giving credits and resources to certain banks, he said. Such delays are rather frequent in American correspondent accounts, the banker claimed. American banks often check companies working with them, he explained.
However, payments get delayed for only a day or two in such cases. Several payments have already been frozen for a week this time, the tourist newspaper reports.
Two more Russian banks affected by the sanctions work in Belarus – Gazprombank and VTB.
Photo: dpa
