Tinkoff, one of Russia’s largest private banks, has banned its staff from working remotely from abroad, except for three countries, business daily RBK reported on Tuesday, citing a representative of the bank.
Starting as soon as next year, remote work will be allowed only from Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan, the countries where the lender has development centers, the outlet reports.
The centers develop fintech services such as internet banking and apps and employ 3,500 people.
According to RBK, there are two reasons for the ban.
First, Tinkoff is a systemically important financial institution and an entity that has access to critical information infrastructure. In line with the requirements of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, access restrictions may apply in certain cases.
The second reason is data security, RBK writes.
“Amid the high risk of attacks on IT infrastructure, we must act with total responsibility and prevent any leaks of sensitive information, especially abroad,” the outlet quoted the bank’s representative as saying. Any employee in possession of a laptop visiting a country where there’s no development center must have their critical access to the bank’s systems fully disabled, the representative added.
RBK also quotes two Tinkoff employees who live abroad outside of the three approved countries as saying that they will be unable to continue working for the bank as of 2024 unless they relocate.
Earlier this month, the bank lamented “a dire shortage” of qualified IT specialists in Russia. The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media estimates the shortage of IT developers at approximately 500,000-700,000 people.
Among the reasons for the shortage is a military recruitment campaign launched by the Russian government last year amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Some Russian citizens fled the country but continued working remotely for domestic companies. Many have since returned to Russia.
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