Ukraine criticizes Raiffeisen: No timetable for exit from Russia

Ukrainian officials complain in a letter to the bank in Vienna, which the Reuters news agency was able to see, that the plans of the RBI about a withdrawal from Russia are too vague and there is no timetable for a sale of the subsidiary bank.

“Apart from the statement that the RBI was actively working on a possible sale, the details are largely unclear,” says the letter from the beginning of February. The RBI was therefore not removed from Ukraine’s list of “international sponsors of war”. Since mid-December, the website of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, which is supported by the Ukrainian government, has officially stated: “The status is suspended for the period of bilateral consultations involving representatives of the European Commission.”

The RBIwhich had previously described it as “unfair” to be on the list, said when asked that it could not give a time frame for a possible withdrawal from Russia as it depends on the approvals of the regulatory authorities.

The Austrian financial institution has been examining options for withdrawing from Russia since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the bank, a sale of the Russian subsidiary is preferred, but they are also working on a possible spin-off of the business. No concrete steps have been taken yet. The RBI has now scaled back its business in Russia, but still generates a large part of the group’s profits in the country. On Wednesday there was RBI announced that it is planning to exit Belarus and is in advanced negotiations with an investor from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) about the sale of the majority stake in Priorbank.

Ukraine’s Russia business is the RBI a thorn in the side. Last spring the bank was added to the list of war sponsors. The list aims to put pressure on companies doing business in Russia and supporting the war effort, for example by paying taxes. It has no legal status, but is symbolically important. Ukraine justified the listing RBI with their activities in Russia. It was also pointed out that there was no progress regarding the sale of the subsidiary bank.

Before the decision on the twelfth EU sanctions package against Russia, EU diplomats said that the Austrian federal government was in favor of the RBI made strong. This has not been officially confirmed.

It is clear from the documents presented by the bank that the sale is the preferred option for the RBI but it remains unclear when, if ever, a spinoff scenario could be put into action, the letter says. In the letter, Ukrainian officials also asked for information about how long it would take to receive regulatory approvals from the European Union (EU) and Austria. Finally, the letter states that the status “suspended” remains. Ukraine could RBI but remove it from the list if it receives “positive news”. Some companies have already been delisted, including Hungary’s OTP Bank.