Raiffeisen intends to develop business in Russia and is looking for new employees – Kommersant

The Austrian group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has posted dozens of job advertisements in Russia, writes Financial Times (FT). As the newspaper notes, this indicates plans to develop the company’s business in the country and contradicts official statements about leaving the market.

FT found advertisements for the recruitment of new employees in the Russian division among 2.4 thousand vacancies published by the Austrian company since December 2024. One of them is about finding a person to work with medium-sized businesses in Russia. Key objectives include expanding the active client base and steadily increasing revenue.

According to the newspaper, a request for RBI to comment on the situation prompted an internal investigation. The Russian structure of the bank prepared a report and handed it over to the head of the group, Johan Strobl. It says that the job description used a template that was mistakenly not updated after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the announcement of plans to leave Russia.

“The decline in Russian business will continue in 2024. Raiffeisen is working on a potential transaction, sale or spin-off that would result in the deconsolidation of the Russian entity from the group… The announcements do not reflect the measures taken by the RBI to reduce its Russian business and are not consistent with future plans,” the report said.

In March 2023, the European Central Bank required Raiffeisen Bank International to close its business in Russia, after which the bank announced plans to sell the local unit or withdraw it from the group structure. Last November, Johan Strobl reportedthat the company is primarily considering the sale of business in Russia.

More details in the text “Kommersant” “RBI reduces profits from Russia”.

Petr Buzlaev