The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has blocked deals of VTB with shares of BM Bank (Kyiv, the subsidiary of Bank of Moscow) due to sanctions and froze the additional capitalization of the bank and its possible sale, the bank's senior vice president, Mikhail Yakunin, told Interfax.

In late September, Bank of Moscow (part of VTB Group), the owner of Ukrainian BM Bank, was hit by personal economic sanctions imposed by Ukraine.

"At present, BM Bank is operating as usual, the bank can carry out all types of transactions and fulfill its liabilities to clients and contractors in the full amount. We're seriously restricted in our rights as a shareholder. NBU has blocked the additional capitalization of the bank. We failed to finish it due to the reason of the official refusal of the regulator," Yakunin said.

The shareholders planned to increase the bank's capital by UAH 1.389 billion.

He said that the group was working on the issue of selling the bank and even held talks with potential buyers, who at the moment of imposing the sanctions were conducting due diligence of BM Bank.

The bank ranked 40 th among 127 operating banks as of July 1, 2015, in terms of total assets, according to the NBU.