Ukraine bank run

UKRAINIAN BANK RUN: Account holders at Prominvestbank try to get their money at an ATM in Kiev. Source: Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA

Seems like the citizens of the states of the old USSR know when its time to get their cash out of the bank:

Ukraine tries to stifle mounting run on banks

Worried Ukrainians pulled money from banks today as the government headed into talks with an International Monetary Fund delegation about getting help with the country's financial troubles.

"There were these rumors and I decided not to wait," said Lyudmila Kudinova, 49, who withdrew 10,000 hryvna from her account at a downtown office of the Khreshchatyk bank today and immediately converted it into $2,000 in U.S. currency.

Prominvest, which has been taken over by the government, and Nadra, which has survived thanks to a government loan, have limited ATM withdrawals to $200, according to customers and bank officials.

Several Nadra ATMs had no cash in them today.

"Of course I am worried," said Svetlana, who declined to give her last name. She tried to withdraw 5,000 hryvna ($1,000) from an ATM at Raiffeisen Bank Aval in the center of the capital, but was limited to just 1,000 hryvna ($200).

Worried savers have withdrawn some $1.3 billion dollars since the beginning of the month.