The Kremlin sees Western banks as a vital channel for cross-border payments.
Austria's Raiffeisen and Italy's UniCredit are having trouble selling their subsidiaries in Russia to comply with the European Central Bank's demand to completely exit the Russian market.
Bloomberg reports this, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Russian authorities have made it clear that they will block the sale of local divisions to any person who may fall under Western sanctions.
“This situation makes it impossible to sell the banks to a Russian buyer, while potential foreign investors are blocked by Western regulators. The Kremlin sees Western banks as a vital channel for cross-border payments,” one of Bloomberg's sources noted.
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If Raiffeisen and UniCredit leave the Russian market, Gazprombank will remain the only major bank making transactions in foreign currency. It has not been subject to European sanctions, maintains access to SWIFT and continues to receive payments from Europe for gas.
“Current rules suggest that foreign companies wishing to wind down operations in the Russian Federation must obtain approval from a government commission, and if the amount exceeds 50 billion rubles, from Putin personally. The new rules leave sellers with nothing: the discount on the asset price must be 60% (previously 50%), and another 35% (previously 15%) must be paid to the budget in the form of an “exit tax,” journalists note.
Earlier it became known that Russia relies on several countries – India, Serbia and the People's Republic of China – in the matter of avoiding Western sanctions.