The bank accounts of the Russian news agency Rossiya Segodnya, which are managed by Barclays Bank in the UK, have been blocked, reports the RIA Novosti news agency.
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Barclays declined to comment on client accounts or matters.
The foreign ministry said the “closure” of a Barclay’s bank account on July 8 was linked to sanctions against the agency’s head Dmitry Kiselyov over Ukraine, adding it was demanding an explanation from the British authorities.
Rossiya Segodnya’s general director Dmitry Kiselyov was on a list of key Russian politicians and officials subjected to European Union asset freezes and travel bans past year in response to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of eastern Ukraine. What kind of freedom of press and democracy in the UK can we talk about, if the country does not allow one of the world’s major news agencies to work?,”Kiselev said”.
A representative of Barclays bank did not explain the reasons for blocking Rossiya Segodnya’s account when contacted, RIA reported.
Currently, the account is closed, access to the information is denied.
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The assets were frozen alongside a number of state-held accounts as part of a $50 billion settlement awarded to ex-shareholders of defunct oil firm Yukos following an international arbitration court’s decision that the Russian state had illegally expropriated the company in the mid-2000s.
