In times of zero and negative interest rates, it doesn't seem to take much to attract savers.

Last year, Sberbank Direct offered its customers an average of 0.35 percent interest for one-year fixed deposits.

According to the financial portal FMH, the European branch of the largest Russian bank promised 0.5 percent per annum for three years.

Many interest platforms referred to the offer or forwarded their users directly.

And many customers grabbed it.

Tim Kanning

Editor in Business.

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After the West's severe sanctions against Russia and Russian banks, Sberbank Europe has been a liquidation case since Wednesday morning - and customers are wondering how they can get their money now.

The good news first: if you have invested less than 100,000 euros in the bank, you should get your money back relatively easily.

This sum is legally guaranteed in the European Union in the event of a bank failure.

And so the Austrian deposit insurance (ESA) also assures on its homepage: Your deposits are and will remain protected.

Mainly German customers

The piquant thing is that German investors in particular seem to have succumbed to the temptations of the Russians.

According to the ESA, the deposits covered by it at Sberbank Europe AG as of February 26 were around 1.1 billion euros.

Around 35,000 German customers have covered deposits, while the share of Austrian depositors is insignificant.

The ESA has therefore brought the compensation institution of German banks (EdB) on board for the operational process of the compensation procedure, which is intended to support the payment process in Germany - but the money will probably have to be raised by Sberbank itself and then by the Austrians.

According to the Association of German Banks (BdB), 913 million of the total of one billion euros in deposits from customers of the European subsidiary are secured by the ESA.

Unlike German institutions, which usually guarantee higher deposits than the legal minimum through additional security schemes, deposits over 100,000 euros are apparently not protected at Sberbank Europe.

In any case, the bank's website and also the deposit guarantee schemes currently only contain information about the statutory deposit guarantee.

According to the ESA, Sberbank savers do not have to do much.

Customers of Sberbank Direct in Germany will therefore receive a letter from the EdB with a form in the next few days.

They only have to give their new bank details for the payment of the credit.

For Austrian customers of the bank, the ESA has opened a payout homepage where you can register for the payout.

They should also receive a letter from ESA in the next few days with their personal login code.

The money should be with the customer within the legal period of seven working days.

VTB customers worried

Sberbank itself announced on Wednesday that its European branches were facing heavy cash outflows and there were threats against employees and buildings.

According to an order from the central bank, the money house is no longer able to provide the European subsidiaries with liquidity.

However, the level of capital and the quality of the assets are sufficient to pay out all savers.

Also affected by the sanctions is the major Russian bank VTB, which has also attracted many German savers through its subsidiary in Frankfurt.

However, there is no talk of a closure here.

The bank tries to appease worried customers on its website: "At the current time, we can confirm that your money is as safe with VTB Direct Bank as with any other bank based in Germany," it says.

"The economic situation of VTB Bank (Europe) SE is stable." At the same time, the bank points out that the deposits there are also protected by the statutory deposit insurance up to EUR 100,000 and that the deposit protection fund of the Association of German Banks also applies.