Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) halted the sale of its Russian subsidiary in February due to indications of possible easing tensions between the U.S. and Russia, according to reports from the Financial Times.
reported
On Friday, according to anonymous sources close to the situation.
“[The delay] aims at evaluating the circumstances with the possibility that the U.S. stance may shift,” explained a source to FT, indicating that the institution is awaiting developments to determine if enhanced diplomatic relations could alleviate scrutiny from Western regulatory bodies.
Christoph Danz, the spokesperson for Raiffeisen Bank International AG, spoke on Friday afternoon.
denied
The FT report according to statements made to the government-controlled news agency RIA Novosti.
Raiffeisen stands as the biggest and most profitable Western bank continuing operations in Russia following Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The institution has encountered significant pressure from American and European regulators urging it to scale back its activities within the Russian marketplace.
In 2023, the bank announced plans to sell or spin off its Russian operations.
The FT reported that RBI’s choice to stop the sale coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump starting to push for a negotiated resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and showing readiness to reinstate wider economic ties with Russia.
The RBI’s departure from Russia was already made complex due to legal pressures from the Kremlin.
In September, a Russian court froze Raiffeisen’s shares in its local subsidiary. And in January, the bank was hit with a 2 billion euro ($2.2 billion) damages fine, contributing to a $926 million net loss in the fourth quarter of 2024 — the bank’s first quarterly loss in nearly a decade.
The RBI verified with the Financial Times that the court decision has essentially halted the sales process.
“At present, RBI’s stakes in Raiffeisen Bank Russia are frozen, making any transaction unfeasible at this juncture,” the bank stated.
The financial institution plans to contest the court decision on April 24.
