Kazakhstan has blocked $21.6 million in the correspondent accounts of subsidiaries of three Russian banks. The decision was made in connection with the international sanctions.

This is reported by the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

It is reported that funds have been blocked on the correspondent accounts of subsidiaries of Sberbank, Alfa Bank and VTB in Kazakhstan.

"Against the backdrop of the sanctions requirements, certain foreign banks have blocked correspondent accounts in foreign currencies. As a result, according to the banks, balances on these accounts of banks totaling about 9.2 billion tenge ($21.6 million) were frozen," the head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of Financial Market of Kazakhstan Madina Abylkasymova said.

According to her, to unblock the accounts it is necessary to obtain a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States. The new owner of Alfa Bank in Kazakhstan has already sent a corresponding appeal.

Earlier, the Kazakh subsidiaries of Sberbank, Alfa Bank and VTB came under US sanctions because of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Earlier, the U.S. Treasury said that foreign banks, which help Russian structures to evade sanctions, may lose access to markets in the United States and Europe.

It also became known that Japan has frozen the assets of Russian Sberbank and Alfa Bank.