The logo of Raiffeisen Bank in Moscow. ALEXANDER NEMENOV / Contributor
Even after almost two years of war, Russia remains one of the most important markets for Raiffeisen Bank, according to current quarterly figures.
With a profit of more than one billion euros, the institute generated almost half of its total profit there this year, reports the “Financial Times”.
The Kremlin is making it more difficult for the Austrian bank to spin off from its Russian subsidiary – as a result, the profits are stuck in Russia.
Despite Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, Raiffeisen Bank continues to make high profits in Russia. The local subsidiary of the Austrian financial institution has generated over a billion euros so far this year, reports the British “Financial Times” (FT) citing recently published quarterly figures. According to the report, the total profit to date is around 2.6 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Raiffeisen Bank is under great international pressure to end its Russian business, writes “FT”. The US Treasury Department initiated investigations into the company in February and checked Raiffeisen Bank’s Russian connections. However, the authority was unable to identify any misconduct such as evasion of the sanctions.
Read too
Despite warnings, Habeck did not intervene: German tech company Franka Emika sold to a Chinese-German company for around 33 million euros
Raiffeisen wants to end its business, but Putin is standing in its way
In Russia, the bank has now become the largest Western lender under President Vladimir Putin. Their current profits are in contrast to their efforts to spin off the Russian businesses from the parent company. The granting of loans has been reduced by 30 percent since January, according to “FT”. The problem with the withdrawal, the newspaper quotes Johann Strobl, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International, as being strict rules from Russian and European authorities. In addition, Russian capital controls prohibit the withdrawal of income from the country. Raiffeisen Bank is not alone with this problem. Around 18 to 20 billion euros from companies from “unfriendly states” were stuck in Russia.
Read too
Ukraine is said to have destroyed three Russian S-400 missile systems, thereby weakening their air defense
mj