Who pays Soviet bills?

Yevgeny Nikolaichuk. Exclusively to VK

Depositors of the former Sberbank of the USSR continue to get payments for their deposits, even though the process ran more than 20 years ago. However, even now one-off individual payments to these categories of the population are treated differently in different countries.

The chairman of the Executive Council of Azerbaijani KapitalBank (an assignee of the Azerbaijani office of the USSR Sberbank), Elmar Mamedov, reported that by early August, one-off payments were provided to more than 263 thousand citizens. 147 million manats were paid. According to Elmar Mamedov, 449.069 applications from depositors were sent to the bank’s service centers. 393.016 out of which were sent to the center. 143 offices were opened in the country for providing payments; 65 of them are operating in Baku and other 78 are in other regions of the republic.

The process of one-off payments to Azerbaijani depositors of the USSR Sberbank will continue to December 31, 2013. 2.4 million people will receive money.

In Russia the situation is different. Considering the territory and the size of the population, it is difficult to find a person over 40 who has no claims to the USSR Sberbank. Since 2009, old deposits of Sberbank could be taken. Of course, it is impossible to get them to the full extent, but people will receive compensation.

The state controls the return of old debts by Sberbank. All planned payments are mentioned in governmental orders. For example, in 2011 there was an article in a federal law which requires succession and an order of compensation payments for old Sberbank deposits.

The first payments were given to people older than 80. It was done to show the elderly that the state does not forget its debts. Due to the fact that Sberbank of Russia is a powerful financial enterprise, further deposit payments are possible.

As for Ukraine, the situation is much worse. Today the USSR Sberbank’s assignee, Oshchadbank of Ukraine, has provided only two payment tranches: in 2008 depositors received 1 thousand hryvnas per person based on the formula of 1 pre-reform ruble = 1 hryvna; and on June 1, 2012, 1 thousand hryvnas payments were given to each depositor. In 2008 1 thousand hryvnas = $200, while in 2012 it is only $120. Ukrainian banks believe that the old deposits should be paid by Russia.