“The implementation is expected to start in the third quarter, hardly sooner,” Strobl said during a conference call with analysts. “We are currently formulating a plan and analyzing what can be done and what will need to be done. Then we will evaluate the impact this will have on the annual results.”
RBI is the largest Western bank that has remained in Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainska pravda server, Strobl explained that the reduction of operations in the local market will include an almost complete suspension of the provision of loans, while the bank will mostly only expect repayment of those already provided.
The company’s executive director also acknowledged that the “fastest and most transparent” way to withdraw from the Russian market would be to sell the bank’s Russian branch. In the last two years, the bank has already received expressions of interest in the purchase from several Russian and foreign partners. However, sanctions have already been imposed on Russian applicants.
This is how the RBI outlined its first concrete exit plan just a few weeks after it came under fire for advertising hundreds of jobs in Russia. On the other hand, the bank announced in advertisements at the time that its “key goals are multiple expansion of the active client base and stable double-digit growth in income.”
European banks are pouring huge sums of money into Russia. Four times more than before the war
Economy
Tags: Raiffeisen Bank gradual withdrawal Russian market
