In line with the ECB’s demands, ‘we will speed up the reduction of the volume of business,’ RBI Executive Director Johann Strobl said in a statement.

Due to Western regulations, the RBI was forced to reduce its activity in the Russian market as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Thus, the number of clients was reduced from 4.3 million to 3.3 million and the volume of loans was downsized from around 11.6 billion euros at the end of 2021 to 5.8 billion by mid-2024, according to the institution’s data.

Despite the cuts, the RBI raised its earnings in the first half of the year; net income rose 14 percent to 661 million euros, and once again the Russian subsidiary contributed with more than half of the total profit.

‘We are satisfied with the development of the group’s result,’ Strobl said.

However, ‘we are accelerating the reduction of our turnover in Russia.’

In parallel, we are continuing to work on the sale of Raiffeisenbank Russia,’ the executive confirmed without specifying possible deadlines.

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