ECB urges European banks to expedite withdrawal from Russia – Kommersant

The head of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), Andrea Enria, in a letter to members of the European Parliament said that the ECB called on European banks operating in the Russian Federation to adopt clear roadmaps for exiting Russian business, as well as regularly report on the actions taken.

“I have repeatedly and publicly expressed my concern about the disappointingly little progress that banks have made in reducing the risks arising from ongoing operations in the Russian market,” says Mr Enria in a letter to MEPs (the letter is available Bloomberg).

According to the ECB, cited by the head of the Supervisory Board, in 2022 European banks reduced their presence in the Russian market by 37%.

According to a joint assessment by Bloomberg and JPMorgan, in the first quarter of 2023, EU banks had capital of €45 billion at risk in Russia. The largest share in this amount belongs to the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), whose Russian capital is more than €20 billion, the agency says.

In March it became known that the ECB demanded from Raiffeisen Bank to close the business in Russia. According to Reutersthe ECB insists on the formation of an action plan to terminate the activities of the bank in the country.

Read more about the prospects of the banking group in Russia – in the material “Kommersant” “Raiffeisenbank was told to exit”.

Erdni Kagaltynov