Raiffeisen plans to start appearing on the Russian market in the summer

The Austrian group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will begin to appear on the Russian market in the summer of 2024. This was reported by Radio Liberty.

The head of the RBI team, Johan Strobl, said that the new plan for stopping business in Russia was developed in accordance with the requirements of the European Central Bank (ECB).

By 2026, the bank must reduce the issuance of loans to customers by 65% ​​compared to the third quarter of 2023, and the same reduction must occur in the international payment segment. The financial institution will still continue to issue loans, but as an exception, focusing on the recovery of previously issued loans.

The RBI considers selling a business to Russian or foreign partners one of the most acceptable options for leaving Russia, Strobl said. However, potential Russian buyers are under Western sanctions.

Earlier it became known that Raiffeisen Bank International found a risky way to reduce the costs of withdrawing its money from Russia. In particular, the bank entered into an agreement with Oleg Deripaska, who is under EU sanctions. The Austrian bank expects to receive an asset worth 1.1 billion euros, while the loss is less than 30%.

In addition, according to the Financial Times, the seven largest European banks with assets in Russia, of which Raiffeisen Bank was first named, reported a combined income of more than 3 billion euros in 2023, three times more than in 2021. We are talking about the following banks: Italian UniCredit, Dutch ING, German Commerzbank, German Deutsche Bank, Italian Intesa Sanpaolo and Hungarian OTP.