The tightened sanctions against Russia could also affect German savers.

The European subsidiaries of the Russian Sberbank will "probably" become insolvent, the European Central Bank (ECB) said on Monday night.

The Austrian banking supervisory authority then imposed a payment moratorium on the bank.

With relatively attractive interest rates on overnight money and fixed-term deposits, Sberbank had also wooed German savers in recent years.

Due to the "impact of geopolitical tensions on its reputation", Sberbank, which is majority-controlled by the Russian state, had to accept "significant deposit outflows", the ECB announced.

She believes that "in the near future, the bank may not be able to pay its debts or other liabilities as they come due."

Mass withdrawals have caused the bank's "deterioration in liquidity" and "there are no funds available" that offer a "realistic chance" of liquidity being restored.

The Austrian-based Sberbank Europe AG and its subsidiaries in Croatia and Slovenia are affected.

Sberbank Europe AG also has a branch in Germany.

It is wholly owned by the Russian parent company, of which the Russian government is the majority shareholder.

According to the ECB, the European subsidiary had total assets of 13.6 billion euros at the end of 2021.

Deposits protected up to EUR 100,000

The bank said in a statement Monday it wanted to protect its customers and maintain the bank's critical functions.

"We are making every effort and fully supporting the authorities to use their powers to manage this unprecedented situation in the interests of customers," says Sonja Sarközi, CEO of Sberbank Europe.

Sberbank Direct, a branch of Sberbank Europe, also collected money from private investors in Germany and recently lured customers with interest payments of up to 1.5 percent.

Since the European subsidiary has its headquarters in Vienna, it is covered by the Austrian deposit insurance.

In the European Union, all deposits up to EUR 100,000 per customer and bank are protected.

Queues at the ATMs

Sberbank is one of the largest banks in Russia.

After Russia's attack on Ukraine on Thursday, the US imposed sanctions on Sberbank along with other Russian banks.

As a result, there were long lines in front of Sberbank branches in Russia and several EU countries when customers wanted to withdraw their savings en masse.

As a result of the ECB warning, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) imposed a payment moratorium on the bank.

Sberbank Europe AG is therefore not allowed to "carry out any withdrawals, transfers or other transactions" at least up to and including Tuesday.

The only exception to the payment moratorium is for depositors, who are allowed to withdraw a maximum of 100 euros per day to cover their "necessary daily needs".

At the same time, it was emphasized that deposits of up to EUR 100,000 continue to be secured by the European deposit guarantee system.

On Saturday, western states excluded the bank from the Swift international financial system as part of sanctions against Moscow.

The Swift exclusion is intended to hit the Russian economy hard: the banks concerned can no longer communicate with financial institutions in other countries.

This will slow down or completely prevent the flow of payments and goods.

Part of the sanctions is also that the Russian central bank can no longer make transactions to support its currency on the western financial markets.

As a result, the Russian ruble fell 27 percent against the dollar on Monday to 114.33 rubles per dollar.

The euro also lost value due to fears of the economic effects of the war.

In view of the international tensions, commodity prices rose sharply on the world markets.

Oil prices rose about 5 percent, wheat rose 8 percent, and aluminum and nickel also saw significant gains.