YEREVAN, March 1. /ARKA/. The sanctions imposed by the West against Russia will not automatically affect Armenia, said Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Hovhannes Khachatryan.

"The consequences of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT will be severe for the Russian economy. They will also indirectly affect its partner countries, including Armenia. However, at the moment, only a few Russian banks that fell under sanctions have been disconnected from SWIFT. Many Russian banks continue to operate without sanctions and through SWIFT," Khachatryan said in an interview with the Public Television of Armenia.

He assessed the current state of Russia's financial markets as "something between terrible and normal."

Assessing the impact of the sanctions on Armenia’s economy, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank pointed out that sanctions against Russian companies, regardless of their participation in Armenian companies or having subsidiaries in Armenia, will not necessarily directly and automatically apply to our country.

"At the moment, there is only one bank in Armenia that is included in the sanctions list –VTB Bank (Armenia). However, the sanctions imposed on the Russian VTB cannot limit domestic transactions in Armenia, Georgia, and other countries, but only cross-border, foreign operations of VTB. In some cases, everything will work as before," Khachatryan emphasized.

"The sanctions do not imply the cessation of the bank's work. Some 90-95% of VTB's operations in Armenia are standard customer services," the deputy chairman of the Central Bank said.

The day before, the Central Bank of Armenia issued a statement saying in the current situation, the services and tools of VTB Bank (Armenia) will be fully available to customers, with the exception of some restrictions related to money transfers. The regulator emphasized that VTB Bank (Armenia) has sufficient liquidity and capital to service all its obligations, as well as the ability to use the Central Bank's instruments. --0--