UK bank closes Kremlin-funded channels accounts

AFP PUBLISHED Oct 18, 2016 06:16am

MOSCOW: Kremlin-funded television network RT said on Monday that Britains NatWest bank is
closing all its accounts in a unilateral decision that Moscow decried as politically motivated.
They have closed our accounts in Britain. All the accounts, wrote RT editor-in-chief Margarita
Simonyan on Twitter.
She later said that NatWest has not blocked RTs access to the accounts and it can still withdraw its funds.
Simonyan told TASS state news agency that we consider this decision to be absolutely political. The
Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it would demand the British authorities explain the
situation. It suggested this could be an act agreed with official London to eliminate a news resource
inconvenient for British officialdom. This would be a gross breach of the basic principles of freedom of
speech, it warned.
In a statement sent, RT called the move incomprehensible and without warning, adding it followed
countless measures from Britain and Europe to ostracise, shout down, or downright impede the work
of RT. RT published on its website a letter from NatWest dated October 12 saying it has reviewed its
banking arrangements with RT and reached the conclusion that we will no longer provide these
facilities.
The letter from NatWest, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, does not give any reason for this decision,
which it says is final and not open to discussion.
The bank says it will close RTs accounts by 12 December.
Simonyan told the RBK business news site that she had no idea of the reason for the closure of the
accounts, but suggested it could be linked to the fact that we are expecting new British and US sanctions
against Russia. Possibly its linked to this, Simonyan said.
The RT editor-in-chief told Rossiya-24 state television that the decision included some personal accounts
of senior staff working in Britain.
Senator Igor Morozov told RIA Novosti state news agency: We must answer in kind and freeze the
accounts of the BBC in Russia.
RT, formerly known as Russia Today, has the slogan Question more and was set up to present news
from the perspective of the Kremlin. It has been criticised as a slavish propaganda tool for President
Vladimir Putin.
Published in Dawn October 18th, 2016