A senior U.S. official told Japanese media earlier that the sum had been transferred in full from the previously-frozen account. South Korean media said the funds would to go initially to the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and then on to Russia's Central Bank before being transferred to Dalkombank (Far East Commercial Bank), based in Khabarovsk.
However, the bank's director general, Andrei Shlyakhovoy, said in an interview with Japan's NHK TV, published on the bank's official Web site: "Dalkombank has received no official requests from the Russian government on this question. We do not consider un-official requests to be issues on which the bank should carry out work or take any measures."
The 52 accounts held by the reclusive Communist state in Macao's Banco Delta Asia were frozen in September 2005 after the U.S. accused Pyongyang of counterfeiting and money laundering.
Although the accounts were unfrozen in March after North Korea agreed to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, Banco Delta Asia remained blacklisted, making foreign banks reluctant to handle further transactions.
When asked whether Dalkombank was preparing for the transfer, and whether an agreement was being made between Russia's Finance Ministry and Central Bank, Shlyakhovoy said: "At the moment, no preparations are being made for transferring the funds... Since we, as a bank, do not take part in the preparation of any intergovernmental agreements, we are not able to comment on this issue."
Following the reports on Thursday, the Russian Finance Ministry said it did not have confirmation of the North Korean funds transfer.
"Media should not spread unconfirmed rumors on this issue," a source with the ministry told RIA Novosti.
Pyongyang boycotted talks on freezing its nuclear program for more than a year over the funds, and conducted its first nuclear bomb test in October 2006.
