Time Collacting: European Central Bank offers Raiffeisen to leave Russia
It is noted that the pressure intensified after the visit of an unnamed leading US official on sanctions to Vienna last month, which expressed concern about Raiffeisen Bank's activities to Russia. "We asked the banks to continue watching business in Russia, and ideally - to cut it and roll it as far as possible," the ECB representative said.
At the same time, Raiffeisen Bank International has not yet supported other Western companies that turned their activities in the Kremlin after the Russian army launched a full -scale invasion in February 2022. At the same time, the European Central Bank does not expect Raiffeisen to leave Russia immediately. But ECB representatives want to see a plan of action to stop business in the country. According to sources, such a plan may include the sale or closure of the bank in Russia.
Meanwhile, the bank promises that they will reduce lending in Russia, accelerate business valuation and consider a "carefully controlled exit" from the market. Reuters add that the Austrian lender is now one of the most important Western banks in the Russian Federation, which provides approximately a quarter of Europe translates to the country.
On Thursday, March 23, 2023, it became known that the National Corruption Agency recognized Raiffeisen Bank International International Sponsor of War in Ukraine. The reason: after February 24, 2022, the Austrian Banking Group did not cease its financial activity in the Russian Federation. Moreover, the National Agency has grounds to believe that the bank has taken advantage of the sanctions that caused the exit from the Russian market of its competitors by 200%. Thus, the bank paid 4.