Is Putin’s Russia heading for its own Great Depression? Dave Essel translates the following item from the pages of Novaya Gazeta about ATM cash withdrawal problems in Moscow that he first saw reported by Grigory Pasko a couple of days ago in a brief item on Robert Amsterdam’s blog (the Moscow Times also had a story on banks freezing deposits, perhaps illegally, and we report the latest jaw-dropping plunge in the Russian stock market below).
Banks Restricting Client Cash Withdrawals
A banking panic is now seriously in the cards – due, furthermore, to those very institutions. In Moscow, Globeks Bank is refusing to allow clients to close their deposits before term (in other words telling them that they can withdraw their money and interest only when their deposit has reached the end of its term). Outside Moscow, in the regions, major banks are limiting the maximum amount that may be withdrawn in any one week and are furthermore charging high commission fees of up to 20% on such withdrawals.