The US is increasing pressure on Raiffeisen Bank operating in Russia - a delegation of the Ministry of Finance is going to Austria

The US authorities are stepping up pressure on Raiffeisen Bank, the last major foreign bank to continue operating in Russia, which, according to its own data, accounts for half of all external payments to the Russian economy.

On 7-8 March, a delegation from the US Treasury Department headed by Anna Morris, the official in charge of overseeing the implementation of sanctions, travels to Austria. In Vienna, Morris intends to meet with Austrian officials and representatives of Raiffeisen Bank International to inform them about the risks of working in Russia.

According to Reuters, Morris will demand "appropriate action" and will also inform the RBI's management about Joe Biden's December sanctions order, which has already led to the blocking of accounts with Russia by banks in Turkey, China and the UAE.

Maurice will talk about the new powers of the US Treasury Department, which are intended to "create increased risks for banks" and, under the threat of being cut off from the global financial system, to encourage them to stop transactions related to the Russian military-industrial complex, the US Embassy in Austria said.

The Russian authorities have made it clear that they would not want Raiffeisenbank to leave, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters: the bank remains one of the last "windows to the world" for Russian citizens and companies, conducts foreign currency payments and has 4 million retail and 2,600 corporate clients in the country.

But the bank's management is beginning to have doubts: some of its top managers, as well as the state-owned banks that control the RBI, are advocating the winding down of the Russian business.

Raiffeisenbank initially planned to get rid of its subsidiary in Russia by September 2023. Then the management of the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International postponed this deadline to the end of 2023, but it did not work out.

Last year, Raiffeisen Bank brought half of its profits to its parent, but the Austrian RBI was under strong pressure from regulators and officials. The European Central Bank demanded that the bank leave Russia "by any means necessary", and the US Treasury Department launched an investigation in February, suspecting Raiffeisen of violating sanctions.

Background. Meanwhile, it was reported that Ukraine refuses to remove Raiffeisen Bank from the list of war sponsors – Ukrainian officials said that most of the bank's plans to leave Russia were vague and incomplete.