Vladimir Putin has moved his Presidential salary to Rossiya Bank as an act of defiance against sanctions. The Bank has been thrown out of both Visa and Mastercard – rendering customers unable to use their credit cards – because it has links to the Russian leadership.
Customers have reported that Rossiya Bank cards no longer work in cash machines and shops. The bank has been ostracised as part of a package of measures agreed between American and European Leaders.
But Putin was unapologetic, telling Russian Parliamentarians that his country has a duty to protect its banks and that he would have his salary paid into a Rossiya Bank account.
The move comes on the day Russia signed the annexation of Crimea into law, and the European Union signed a deal create closer political links with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin said: “I’ve already said that I was going to open an account in this bank, more than that I asked for my salary to be transferred to this account.
“The clients of the bank must be taken under our protection. We also should make sure that neither clients nor the bank will sustain any negative outcome from this situation.”
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