UniCredit is considering a complete withdrawal from Russia and winding down its operations
The Italian financial group UniCredit has abandoned plans to sell its subsidiary UniCredit Bank and is considering a scenario involving a complete withdrawal from Russia.
This is reported by Russian media, citing sources in the financial market.
According to the publication’s sources, the group has changed its strategy and moved toward a gradual reduction of its presence:
- individual assets are being sold;
- costs are being sharply cut;
- retail and corporate businesses are being wound down;
- staff is being cut, particularly account managers, with severance pay.
One source notes that the main goal is to downsize the business as much as possible, extract profits, and ultimately surrender the banking license.
Lawyers interviewed by Kommersant believe that in the event of liquidation, the bank could receive more funds than through a sale, where the asset valuation could drop to approximately 10% of capital due to a discount and additional payments to the Russian budget.
At the same time, these funds could be frozen in special accounts and potentially become accessible only as part of a future exchange of frozen assets between Russia and the EU.
Previously, UniCredit Bank Russia was viewed by the group as an asset for sale, but implementing this scenario has become complicated.
The reason is its status as a systemically important bank in Russia, which requires special permits for any transactions involving its shares or equity interests.
UniCredit’s decision reflects a general trend of Western financial groups scaling back their presence in the Russian market amid regulatory and political restrictions.
The Italian bank UniCredit, one of the last Western banks still operating in Russia, has begun actively preparing to exit the Russian market.
The Italian government is asking UniCredit to leave Russia as soon as possible, which will be one of the conditions for approving the bank’s acquisition of a smaller competitor, Banco BPM.
