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Last week Sparebank1 Nord-Norge announced that it will close 16 of the 31 bank branches in the region. Including the only Svalbard bank in Longyearbyen.
This means that residents must fly to the mainland to get to the nearest bank in Tromsø.
Several have reacted to the bank’s closure. It is feared that this will make it difficult to run a business in the archipelago. Among those who responded was the Russian Consul General in Svalbard, Sergey Gushchin.
He has sent a letter to the CEO of Sparebank1 Nord-Norge, in which he points out that the closure of the bank is a violation of diplomatic regulations.
It was Svalbardposten who first brought up the case.
– I had not seen it coming
Stein Vidar Loftås, Head of Communications at Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge, says they were surprised by the Consul General’s proposal.
– When it comes to Russia and Russian interests, it may not be a relationship that we had seen coming. That is why we must be able to say that we were surprised.
Stein Vidar Loftås, head of communications for Sparebank1 Nord-Norge, says they were surprised by the Russian protest against the bank’s closure.
Photograph: Petter Strøm / NRK
According to the Consul General, the bank’s closure will make it difficult for them to open accounts for new employees and make cash and salary withdrawals for them.
Gushchin claims that the closure is a violation of the Vienna Convention.
– In our opinion, the convention regulates the relationship between national states, and not the relationship between a national state and a private actor like us. Our lawyers look at the case, but our starting point is that this does not affect us, he says and adds;
– One can imagine that there may be a policy cut in this.
You will find solutions
The reason for the closure is that fewer people visit the bank’s facilities. And that most people use the bank digitally.
– If you assume that you physically have to go to the bank, then clearly it is cumbersome for the community in Longyearbyen not to have a bank. We argue that it is no longer necessary to go to the bank since all our services are digital.
Loftås says they are now working to find alternative solutions in cases where it is necessary to physically appear at the bank.
– If someone of another nationality is going to open an account in a Norwegian bank for the first time, it has been the case that you have to physically present yourself and identify yourself. But we have said that we are facing that process. Our goal is to make it completely digital as well.
– We will go as far as we can to find solutions, we are already in dialogue with the governor and with the local council in Longyearbyen, says Loftås.
– You have become more active against the Norwegian authorities.
Russia has repeatedly claimed that Russian companies and interests are discriminated against in Svalbard.
In February this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, among others, requested talks with Norway. The background was what Russia sees as restrictions on Russian activity in Svalbard. This was rejected by Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen.
The Norwegian Foreign Policy Institute (NUPI) researcher Jakub Godzimirski says that Russia has become increasingly entrenched in Svalbard.
Russia, among other things, has established a special state commission to ensure the Russian presence in Svalbard, which is made up of representatives of many organizations. We see that there is a kind of institutionalized interest in Svalbard.
He also says that the Consul General is more visible than the previous one.
– It is difficult to interpret whether it is about personal characteristics or political orientations. The Consul General has become more active with the Norwegian authorities, compared to his predecessor.
But Godzimirski does not believe that closing a bank is a violation of the Vienna Convention.
– It will probably make the job of the Consul General more difficult. But I don’t think it says anything in the Vienna Convention that one should keep banking in the areas where the consulates are located. You can point out that this makes your job difficult. But I don’t think you can refer directly to the Vienna Convention, says Godzimirski.
