Slovakia told about the demand to close the account to collect money for residents of the Kursk region

The amount that was collected in Slovakia for residents of Kursk region could have been much more than €52 thousand, if the local bank had not demanded from the organizers of the charity event to close the account where the funds were received, the initiator of the collection, the village head of Smilno Vladimir Baran, told Izvestia.

"The bank was initially afraid to open an account for us. Eventually they agreed, but, I think, only because they thought the amount would be very small. They thought people were opposed to Russia's actions in Ukraine and didn't approve of the special military operation. What surprised them was how people started donating money and how the amount started to grow. Eventually we got a call from the bank demanding that we stop collecting and close the account without saying why. If not for that, we would have been able to collect a much higher amount," he said.

He added that the money was donated not only by Slovak residents, but also by citizens of Austria, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and other countries.

Read more in an exclusive interview with Izvestia:

"Donations for the residents of Kursk region came from all over the world."