The three European banks with the largest exposure to Russia have increased profits there since 2023. This was revealed by S&P Global Market Intelligence in a report devoted to the topic. According to the rating agency, Italy's Unicredit, Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International, and Hungary's Otp Bank earned a combined 613 million euros in Russia in the first quarter of 2024. The figure was up 38% from 445.6 a year earlier, aided by the hyper-restrictive monetary policy pursued by the central bank, which keeps the benchmark rate at 16%. Net income realized by Unicredit's Russian operations more than doubled year-on-year to 213 million euros. A number supported by higher trading revenues, lower provisions and declining operating costs. Nevertheless, the bank reduced cross-border exposure to Moscow by more than 90% and local exposure (loans to Russian customers) by 76%. While the Russian market has remained profitable for European banks, regulatory pressure to accelerate exits has been growing. In particular, the ECB wrote to institutions to ask for specific deadlines. However, the uncertainty of the regulatory environment prompted Unicredit to turn to the European Union court for clarity on the obligations set by Frankfurt.
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