Banking system practically not working in captured territory of Luhansk region

In the territory of Luhansk region temporarily occupied by the Russians, the banking system practically does not work so locals have to travel to the regional center to receive relevant services.

The head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Artem Lysohor, announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

In the winter, the so-called "LPR" promised to expand the network of bank branches and ATMs. However, the statement was made at the local level and designed solely to reassure the population. The banking system was monopolized by one of the Russian banks – the sanctioned one, of course,” says the report.

"It's the end of April now, and the problem remains unresolved," said Lysohor.

In particular, in Sievierodonetsk, there is only one branch operating in the entire city, which is open only until lunch. Hundreds of people line up there every day. Only a few actually get serviced. The situation is no better in neighboring settlements. To get services they need, people are forced to travel to Luhansk. But the whole city can’t travel at the same time. So people have to wait – outside the bank," noted the administration head.

According to Lysohor, the invaders refuse to put up for sale products by local manufacturers. Since 2014, grocery store chains have established beneficial relationships with suppliers, setting prices at their own discretion. Therefore, the emergence of new local manufacturers turned out to be beneficial to almost no one.

As an example, Lysohor cited the situation of a Markivka-based cheese factory, although the prices of Markivka cheeses, even with the trade network interest, are lower than Belarusian and Russian ones. It would be beneficial only to local buyers, but not to the businesses run by occupiers. Currently, the factory is operating at only 40% capacity.

As reported by Ukrinform, the invaders are bringing road workers from Russia's Bashkiria to the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk region instead of giving much-needed jobs to locals.

Meanwhile, local men in the occupied territories are being massively subjected to military mobilization, in a gross breach of international conventions.