Several hundred people, most of them clients of three banks in Russia's Tatarstan republic whose licenses have been revoked, have marched to the government headquarters to deliver a protest letter to the republic's leadership.
The Bank of Russia on March 3 revoked the licenses of three banks -- Tatfondbank, Intechbank, and Ankor Bank -- in which the regional government is a majority stakeholder. Tatfondbank was one of the largest banks in the region, ranked 42nd in Russian's banking system.
More than 300 people gathered on March 4 outside the government building in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, where they delivered a letter the republic's prime minister, Ildar Khalikov, who is also president of the failed banks' boards.
They demanded that Khalikov step down and the government find money to repay all the clients some 40 billion rubles ($681 million).
Khalikov personally received the letter, to which authorities promised to respond by March 6.
The letter apparently contains proposals to resolve the problem of reimbursing the lost savings of the banks' clients, including the creation of a joint committee including authorities and customers of the affected banks.
Khalikov promised the protesters to pass the proposals to Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
