Turkish Denizbank began requesting residence permit documents from Russians – Kommersant

One of the largest Turkish banks, Denizbank, sent letters to clients from Russia requesting documents confirming their right to reside in Turkey. This is reported by RBC with reference to two intermediaries helping Russians open cards in Turkish banks.

In letters sent to clients, Denizbank asks to provide the Turkish residence address of Russians. “So that we can enter your Turkish address into the system, we urgently ask you to reply to this email with your residence permit and a document confirming your Turkish registration, or please go with the documents to the nearest Denizbank branch,” the letter from the credit institution says.

According to one of the intermediaries, Sergei Ovsyannikov, the mailing of letters began on February 14. The Denizbank central office did not explain why it needed this data. Also, the bank did not officially notify about plans to close the accounts of Russians. But Mr. Ovsyannikov admitted that clients without a residence permit may have their account closed due to an insufficient balance. It is not yet known what the minimum amount in the account should be.

Another intermediary, Elena Chernyshova, claims that the letters began to be sent about a week ago. In her opinion, Denizbank is updating the data because many clients bought real estate in order to obtain citizenship or a residence permit. She claims that there are no plans to close the accounts of active clients, but accounts that have no movement of funds and balances may be blocked.

Mr. Ovsyannikov also said that Denizbank has not opened accounts for new clients from Russia over the past month. He clarified that the failure rate is 95%. “The branch accepts documents, fills out an application for an account, but in the end, clients do not pass the compliance check,” he explained. According to Ms. Chernyshova, since mid-January Denizbank has stopped accepting applications for opening an account from all foreigners.

Denizbank opened accounts for Russians without a residence permit, but has already tightened the conditions for opening an account several times. Since the fall of 2022, the bank began to open cards upon making a deposit of 10 thousand liras for a month. In November of the same year, the minimum deposit amount was increased to $5 thousand. Later it was reduced to $3 thousand. In June 2023, Denizbank wrote off different amounts from the accounts of Russian clients, which contained up to 2 thousand liras (about $85), explaining this by “account management commission.” In a few days money to clients returned.

In February Vedomosti reportedthat Turkish banks began to close the accounts of Russian companies. Last week, according to Izvestia, Turkish banks resumed settlements with Russia for a number of goods and services.

About the development of the situation – in the publication “Kommersant” “The Lira is losing liquidity in Russia”.

Laura Keffer