The seven largest European banks by assets in Russia – Raiffeisen Bank International, Unicredit, ING, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo and OTP – paid around 800 million euros in taxes to the Russian budget in 2023, according to the Financial Times, quoted by medusa.io.
This amount is four times higher than before the large-scale invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine – in 2021, before the war, European banks paid 200 million euros in taxes.
More than half of all tax payments belong to Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank International, which has the largest presence in Russia among foreign banks. Between 2021 and 2023, RBI’s profits in Russia more than tripled to EUR 1.8 billion, accounting for half of the Austrian group’s total profits (before the war, Russia accounted for about a third of RBI’s profits).
The total profit of European banks in Russia in 2023 exceeded three billion euros, FT notes.
Raiffeisen Bank International has previously said it plans to reduce its exposure to Russia, but the FT points out that Raiffeisenbank’s job postings in Russia show “ambitious plans” to expand its customer base.
Deutsche Bank, OTP and Commerzbank have significantly reduced their presence in Russia, bank representatives said. Intesa is in the process of selling its business. UniCredit declined to comment.
The Financial Times did not include American banks in its calculations because they did not disclose the results of their activity in Russia. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, based on data from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Citigroup paid $53 million in taxes in Russia in 2023 and became the fourth largest taxpayer among Western banks in the Russian Federation. In turn, JPMorgan paid $6.8 million, according to the research institute.
As the FT writes, the Western bank taxes show how foreign companies remaining in Russia “help the Kremlin maintain financial stability despite Western sanctions.”
Tags: Large European banks remaining Russia pay taxes times higher war Raiffeisen Bank place
