Sberbank CZ, a subsidiary of Sberbank Europe, on Friday halted operations at all 25 offices in the Czech Republic over security concerns, according to the Czech national television.

On Thursday, Western countries, including the United States, imposed sanctions against Sberbank in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

The bank closed its offices on Friday at 2:00 p.m.

Long queues of people gathered near the offices of Sberbank CZ in attempts to withdraw money from ATMs amid the sanctions.

Czech government mulling unilateral sanctions against Russia

The Czech government is discussing a series of unilateral sanctions against Russia to complement those that will be introduced by the European Union, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan told a session of the upper chamber on Friday.

Minister Rakušan said he would propose that the government earmark 1.5 billion crowns to finance the cost of accommodating Ukrainian war refugees.

He said that in the first stage of the operation the country was ready to take in 5,000 refugees. The Senate is holding an extraordinary session at which it wants to approve a resolution condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

The Czech Republic will also ban all Russian air operators from using its airspace.