Reuters, (RBI) announced on Friday that it is selling its Belarus business at a loss to an investor from the United Arab Emirates, as the Austrian lender faces mounting pressure to also pare back its Russian arm.
RBI has vowed to spin off its Russian business, which has provided a payment lifeline to hundreds of companies there, after pressure from international regulators on the biggest Western bank remaining in the country.
But more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, little has changed. RBI’s move in Belarus indicates willingness to sever ties to countries in Moscow’s sphere of influence.
RBI said the deal would trigger a loss of around 300 million euros ($335 million). That indicates it sold the local bank for roughly that amount – half of its 600 million euros in equity. The bank in Belarus had around 2 billion euros of deposits and more than 1,600 staff.
A spokesperson for RBI said the ultimate beneficiary of the buyer, Soven 1 Holding, is UAE-based Suhail Al Otaiba. The sale is set to be wrapped up by the end of this year.
RBI has been a critical financial lifeline for millions of Russian customers who want to send euros or dollars abroad, although it has recently curtailed such services. Western regulators want to dismantle this bridge between Moscow and the West, and the European Central Bank is demanding Raiffeisen pay back its Russia business.
Although Italy’s UniCredit also has a business in Russia and is under pressure to leave, RBI is far larger and has become a test of Western resolve to cut ties with Russia. Russian authorities have made it clear to RBI, which has around 2,600 corporate customers, 4 million local account holders, billions of deposits, and more than 10,000 staff, that they wish it to stay because of its role in international payments, one source has told Reuters.
With sprawling industrial holdings, more than 18 million customers from Vienna to Moscow, and 44,000 staff, RBI is a financial linchpin for Austria and much of Eastern Europe. Russia has become an even bigger money spinner for the bank since the Ukraine war started in 2022, accounting for about half of the group’s profits in the first three months of this year as fees on payments abroad spiked.
According to RBI’s annual reports, the bank has experienced significant fluctuations in profit due to various geopolitical and economic factors over the Past 5 Years:
1. 2019: RBI reported a net profit of 1.23 billion euros, driven mainly by strong performance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and lower risk costs.
2. 2020: The net profit fell to 804 million euros as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted global economic conditions. However, RBI managed to maintain solid performance in the CEE region.
3. 2021: The bank saw a recovery with a net profit of 1.37 billion euros. The easing of pandemic restrictions and economic recovery in key markets contributed significantly to this growth.
4. 2022: Despite the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, RBI reported a net profit of 1.61 billion euros. The high volatility in the Russian market resulted in elevated fees from international payments, bolstering the bank’s revenues.
5. 2023: With continued tensions and regulatory pressures, RBI’s net profit dropped to 1.15 billion euros. The bank faced challenges due to increased scrutiny from Western regulators and a need to navigate complex geopolitical landscapes.
Sources close to the matter revealed that the sale of the Belarus unit is part of a broader strategic realignment by RBI to reduce its exposure to countries under heavy international sanctions. The bank has been in discreet talks with several potential buyers for its Russian operations but has faced obstacles due to the intricate legal and financial frameworks involved.
According to a senior executive at RBI who wished to remain anonymous, the bank is also exploring options to diversify its portfolio by increasing investments in more stable markets such as Germany and Poland. This move is aimed at offsetting the losses incurred from its Eastern European ventures and stabilizing its financial outlook for the future.
RBI’s decision to sell its Belarusian operations to a UAE investor highlights a growing trend among Western financial institutions to seek buyers from non-Western countries, which are less affected by the geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.
