Raiffeisen Bank International closed correspondent accounts of all Russian banks, except for its “daughter”

The Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has terminated correspondent relations with all Russian banks, with the exception of its subsidiary in Russia, Raiffeisenbank. This is stated in the presentation to the RBI financial statements for the first quarter of 2023 (.pdf).

“The reduction in the payment business continues. (Accounts.— “b”) all Russian correspondent banks have been stopped, except for Raiffeisenbank Russia,” the banking group’s presentation materials regarding the state of business in Russia say.

From the RBI reporting, it follows that the Austrian group has reduced its business activity in Russia, and also minimized the group’s presence in Russia. “The conditions for doing business in Russia are very difficult. Local and international laws governing the sale of business in Russia are subject to constant change. RBI will continue to seek the sale or spin-off of its Russian division,” RBI said in a statement.

Raiffeisen Bank International has been reducing its correspondent network in Russia since the spring of 2022. At the end of March 2023 RBI informed about the intention to sell or spin off your business in Russia. The bank promised to cut business activity in the country. This process will be expressed in the reduction of the total volume of transactions in foreign currency by Raiffeisenbank, as well as in the slowdown in the rate of issuance of loans.

At the end of 2022, Russia was the center of profitability for RBI (more than half of the result), and the Russian Raiffeisenbank showed the second result among banks – 141 billion rubles. arrived. However, from the group’s report for the first quarter of this year shouldthat RBI’s interest income in Russia began to decline.

Milena Kostereva