The media learned about the quadruple growth of Chinese bank assets in Russia

Chinese credit institutions have provided billions of dollars to Russian banks due to the fact that Western companies have stopped operations in Russia. About it writes newspaper Financial Times with reference to the analysis of the Kyiv School of Economics.

According to the newspaper, China’s influence on the Russian banking sector quadrupled between February 2022 and March 2023. In particular, according to the FT, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank became the main creditors and Agricultural Bank of China, in total they invested about $9.7 billion in Russia during this period against $2.2 billion.

It is specified that these actions of China may be associated with the efforts of Beijing to strengthen the yuan as an alternative to the dollar of the world currency. At the end of 2022, the trade turnover between Russia and China in yuan reached a record high of $185 billion.

In June 2023 the European Central Bank urged banks from eurozone countries that continue to operate in Russia should leave the country as soon as possible. One of the banks whose presence in Russia has remained the strongest is the Austrian Raiffeisenbank. According to the FT, in 14 months he increased his assets in Russia by more than 40% – from $20.5 billion to $29.2 billion.

At the end of March, the ECB demanded from the banking group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) to leave the Russian market. At the same time, RBI decided to sell the Russian business or withdraw it from the group’s perimeter. A post on the bank’s website said it was consulting “with the relevant competent authorities” on possible deals. In May, RBI announced the reduction of relations with Belarusian banks.

In early July, Reuters, citing sources wrotethat the group has still not provided the ECB with a plan to withdraw from Russia, making completion of this procedure by September unlikely. The interlocutors also noted that the RBI is in no hurry to leave in the hope of a speedy end to the conflict in Ukraine. In August, Group CEO Johann Strobl announced that the bank counts allocate Russian assets before the end of the year.