Raiffeisenbank to cut advertising in Russia amid preparations for withdrawal

Raiffeisenbank decided not only to reduce lending, but also not to renew contracts for some of the advertising structures.Austrian group slows down amid preparations to leave RUSSIA

Raiffeisenbank has decided not to renew contracts for placing part of the signs with its name on the roofs of buildings, a representative of the credit institution told RBC. This is how the bank explained the removal of the Raffeisenbank sign on the building of the Russian State Children's Library in Moscow.

“Based on the current needs to support the bank's brand recognition, we have decided at this stage not to renew contracts for the placement of part of the roof structures,” a Raiffeisenbank representative told RBC. Earlier, TELEGRAM channels distributed a video showing the Raiffeisenbank sign being removed from the building of the Russian State Children's Library, located on Kaluga Square in Moscow.

The Austrian group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is working on two scenarios for curtailing business in Russia. This is either the sale of a subsidiary of Raiffeisenbank, or the withdrawal of an asset from the group.

RBI undertakes to reduce business activity in Russia, according to a statement on the official website of the financial group. The plan to reduce this activity includes minimizing the group's cross-border presence in Russia, reducing loans to customers and the overall volume of foreign currency transactions.

The RBI is currently under pressure from regulators and its own shareholders. As REUTERS wrote, at the end of March, the European Central Bank (ECB) demanded that Raiffeisen leave the Russian market - at least provide an action plan in this direction. On March 28, the Austrian Investor Association (IVA), which protects the interests of minority shareholders of local companies, announced its intention to raise the issue of the group's future strategy in Russia at the annual meeting of RBI. The association emphasized that the silence of the Raiffeisen management "increasingly affects the bank's reputation."

Read pioneerprodukt.by Tax liability will be mitigated in Russia. Who will be forgiven a criminal case Where does envy come from and how to defeat it - 4 ways Is it possible to make money on the IPO of Alibaba businesses in Hong Kong How to help a teenager prepare for exams:

Raiffeisenbank is included in the list of systemically important credit institutions (SICIs). Raiffeisenbank and UniCredit Bank are the only ones on the list (SZKO) that are not even subject to sectoral sanctionswestern countries. This allowed Raiffeisenbank to take a significant share of the international payments market between Russia and the rest of the world. As the Financial Times (FT) wrote in February, citing a top manager of a credit institution, this share is 40-50%. Also in 2022, Raiffeisenbank was the only major bank that was able to significantly increase profits during the crisis. According to RAS reporting, the financial result of the bank increased by 3.6 times in 2022, to RUB 141 billion. For RBI, the Russian subsidiary turned out to be the most profitable territorial bank - the structure generated 54% of the group's total profit (amounted to € 3.8 billion). At the same time, RBI cannot receive dividends, since payments to shareholders from unfriendly countries in Russia are limited.