Three to six million Russians live in Germany, most of them arrived at the fall of the wall in the Federal Republic, some descendants of German minorities in Russia. Since the war in Ukraine, they have complained of discrimination, especially from their banks
With our correspondent in Berlin, Nathalie Versieux
More and more Russians living in Germany and being customers of Deutsche Bank or its Postbank subsidiary are receiving letters of this type: “due to international sanctionswe see ourselves obliged to ask you for a copy of your residence permit”.
Without proof of a domicile within the EU, explains the courier, Russian customers in Germany could be excluded from certain banking services. Several people complain of no longer being able to withdraw money from the ATM, without any explanation.
Three banks are now accused of discrimination by Russians in Germany. Embarrassed, the three institutes invoke their obligation to apply the sanctions decided by the European Union. They would therefore have to check that their Russian clients have not meanwhile returned to live in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Deutsche Bank, which until then had refused to take the plunge, also announced on Saturday that it finally wanted to reduce its activity in Russia.