Sberbank CEO: No End in Sight for U.S. Sanctions on Russia

The CEO of Russia’s biggest bank, Herman Gref, said on Sunday he doesn’t expect any changes in the United States’ policy of sanctions against Russia in the near future.

“We have been waiting for too long,” the head of Sberbank said in an interview with the Deistvuyushchiye Litsa (Political Actors) program on the Rossiya-1 television channel when asked about possible improvements in the Russian-U.S. relations.

“We will be glad if it comes as a bonus to our plans, but so far, regrettably, it is hardly ever possible in the foreseeable future. So, other decisions are needed as concerns the business planning time-frames,” Gref noted.

He said that his bank has problems abroad stemming from the U.S. sanctions.

“We had to stop our international strategy. We used to earn more than one billion U.S. dollars in net profits abroad but after the sanctions were imposed have lost possibilities of generating dividends even in those countries we derive big profits in,” Gref said.

The United States have been imposing sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea’s in 2014. Sanctions were imposed of major Russian companies such as Sberbank, Vnesheconombank, Gazprombank, the Kalashnikov concern, Novatek, Almaz-Antey, Gazpromneft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz, and Rosneft, among others.