Due to sanctions on many Russian banks, some Danish companies are now unable to receive funds held in Russia.
The Danish shipping company Lauritzen Bulkers, for example, is owed 1.7 million kroner from a Russian customer for business predating the War in Ukraine.
The Russian customer would like to pay through a bank not subject to sanctions, said Lauritzen Bulkers, but the company’s Danish bank will not confirm that it will accept the transfer due to fears of coming into conflict with sanctions.
Dansk Industri, Denmark’s largest employer and business organization, has said that it has been receiving similar complaints from other Danish companies.
No light at the end of the tunnel
With companies helpless to recover funds still in Russia, a solution has been proposed – one that has already worked in Germany.
The solution, which has been recommended by Dansk Industri, calls for the Danish government to provide Danish banks with a signed document confirming the legality of transactions with non-sanctioned Russian banks.
However, Søren Møller Nielsen, the press manager of Erhvervsstyrelsen, the Danish Business Authority, has expressed that there is no legal basis for the government to involve itself in what is a private matter between banks and businesses.
Given this statement by Nielsen, made in an email to the banking interest organization Finans Danmark, it remains unclear how long Danish companies will have to wait for their money.
