But first thing's first, the exclusion does not cover Sberbank and Gazprombank - both of which are main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas, in which EU countries are still buying despite the ongoing conflict.
The seven banks in question instead are Russia's second largest bank, VTB, alongside Bank Otrkitie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, and VEB. The reason being "based on their connection to the state and implicit connection to the war effort".
The banks will be given 10 days to wind down their SWIFT operations.
