Page 122 - RusRPTMar23

results in terms of profit in 2021, and our profit was 320bn rubles. We see a comparable positive result this year. It is unlikely to reach the level of 2021 , but it will be comparable to this, that is, the same number of zeros," Kostin said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel (VGTRK). VTB last year suspended the publication of financial results, the results for 2022 were not disclosed, it is only known that it became unprofitable for the bank. According to Kostin, VTB started 2023 on a positive note.
The purchase of Otkritie Financial Corporation (FC) Bank will not influence VTB Bank’s financial results for 2022, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television channel, broadcasted on Tuesday. “The deal will not anyhow influence the 2022 results, because the merger was performed in the very last days of the year. But in the future, of course, the deal will add a quarter to our bank’s assets,” he said. Kostin also said that complete consolidation of the banks will take around 1.5–2 years. “
Credit Suisse bank has CHF17.6bn ($19bn) worth of Russian assets frozen on its accounts, RBC business portal wrote citing Sonntags Zeitung report. It is estimated that Russian funds arrested in Credit Suisse account for more than one third of all the Russian assets registered in Switzerland (CHF46.1bn or almost $50bn). The report claims that out of all arrested funds only CHF4bn account for directly Swiss-sanctioned individuals or entities. CHF13.6bn accounts for third-country sanctions for frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Previously, official reports only revealed CHF7.5bn of frozen Russian assets.
The US sanctioning body has launched an investigation into Raiffeisen Bank International and its operations in Russia and the Russian- occupied territories of Donbas, Reuters news agency reported on February 18. The report also mentioned that the scope of the inspection of the Austrian lender, which plays a crucial role in the Russian economy, has also been broadened. As the agency noted in response to the journalists’ questions, the bank said it has received a request from the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January to “clarify the payment business and related processes supported by the RBI, in light of recent developments, connected with Russia and Ukraine.”
The largest foreign bank in Russia, Raiffeisen, benefited greatly from a year of war. More than 60% of the profits of the entire international banking group in 2022 came from Russia and Belarus, the countries that organized the invasion of Ukraine. And this amount has quadrupled compared to 2021 to 2.2bn euros. But this does not please the leadership. “On the one hand, we have very, very good results, but on the other hand, we have incredible challenges,” said CEO Johann Strobl.
122 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com