UniCredit announced galactic efforts due to sanctions against Russia

Italian bank UniCredit is making a "galactic effort" to comply with international sanctions against its Russian subsidiary, according to the bank's CEO, Andrea Orcel, according to reports.REUTERS .

"There are 15,000 sanctions against Russia <...> and they are all different, so a galactic effort is needed to comply with all the requirements," he said.

Moreover, the bank is trying to act cautiously to avoid losing Russian businesses, Orchel added. "Because if we did, we would be handing them [Russia] €3.8 billion in capital on a silver platter," the CEO noted.

In the event of asset seizure in Russia, UniCredit will partially compensate for the damage by leaving €1.5 billion of corporate deposits from its Russian division in Italy, the CEO warned.

In Russia, UniCredit SpA operates through its subsidiary, UniCredit Bank, which is included in the list of systemically important banks in Russia. In the spring of 2022, Orcel announced that the bank was considering leaving Russia. Two years later, the European Central Bank increased pressure on European credit institutions whose subsidiaries continued to operate in Russia, prompting UniCredit to file a lawsuit against the regulator for violating the principle of "respect for private property." At the end of January 2025, UniCredit Bank suspended outgoing euro money transfers for individuals.

In November 2024, UniCredit, after receiving approval from the Italian regulator Consob, announced plans to acquire €14 billion in shares of the BPM banking group. That same month, Reuters and Il Messaggero reported on the Italian government's plans to make UniCredit's exit from Russia "as soon as possible" a condition of the deal.

In mid-JulyBLOOMBERG, citing a court ruling, reported that the Lazio Regional Administrative Court upheld the government's demand that the bank withdraw from the Russian market within nine months to approve the acquisition of Banco BPM.

However, UniCredit withdrew its bid to acquire its smaller competitor after failing to obtain government approval. Bloomberg noted that the Italian government can block or restrict such deals under the "golden power" rule.

UniCredit plans to exit its operations in Russia by mid-2026. The bank has reported a decline in its deposit portfolios and outstanding loans. In May, Reuters reported that three UAE companies approached the Italian Finance Ministry with an offer to buy UniCredit's Russian subsidiary at a 60% discount to its market value.

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