Page 17 - bne monthly magazine June 2024 Russian Despair Index

bne June 2024 Companies & Markets I 17
earned $35mn and paid $6.8mn in taxes while dealing with legal challenges from its former Russian partner, VTB.
The imposition of sanctions on most of the Russian financial sector, which includes denying access to the SWIFT international payment system, has inadvertently made international banks critical financial conduits between Moscow and the West. This role has significantly boosted RBI’s net fee and commission income in Russia, which jumped from €420mn in 2021 to €1.2bn in 2023.
European banks increase profit and tax in Russia
RBI also has a subsidiary in Ukraine, where it plays a similar role and earns substantial fees, facilitating transfers of money in and out of the country.
A senior Russian banking executive commented on the situation, telling the FT: “It is not only in RBI’s interest to stay in Russia. The [Russian central bank] will do everything it can to not let them go because there are few non-sanctioned banks through which Russia can receive and send SWIFT payments.”
1,805 117 464
338 26 90
151 -7 20
40 6 16
Bank
Country
2021 Profit (€mn)
2023 Profit (€mn)
2021 Tax (€mn)
2023 Tax (€mn)
Raiffeisen Bank International
OTP
ING Groep
Deutsche Bank
Source: Company filings, FT
Austria 591
Hungary 128
Netherlands 3
Germany 26
UniCredit
Italy
209
658
44
154
Intesa Sanpaolo
Italy
7
138
2
27
Commerzbank
Germany
15
51
3
8
Raiffeisen bank has seen its profits soar, and accounts for half of all the taxes paid to the Russian government by Western banks still operating in Russia. / Photo: www.shutterstock.com
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