Russia expects the local subsidiaries of European banks Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and UniCredit to participate in the mass launch of the digital rouble in July 2025 or face potential fines.
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and Italy's UniCredit are two of Russia's 13 systemically important banks but they are also under pressure from the European Central Bank to cut their exposure to Russia.
Russia has been piloting a digital rouble and plans to begin mass implementation on July 1, 2025. Under the pilot scheme, a select group of individuals and companies has been allowed to open digital wallets and make purchases and transfers with digital roubles. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the full rollout next year would be voluntary for individuals, but not for systemically important lenders.
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Meanwhile, the Russian government is signaling that it will block any attempt by lenders including Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit SpA to sell local units to any buyer that risks being sanctioned, according to people familiar with the matter.
That effectively rules out a Russian buyer, and given the opposition by Western governments to any outside bidder stepping in, makes a sale next to impossible. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. abandoned a potential purchase of UniCredit’s Russian operations last year on the basis that the US government would oppose it, people familiar with the matter said.
Raiffeisen and UniCredit have been seeking a way out of their entanglement in the country since the invasion of Ukraine over two years ago. The Western banks, two of the largest left with operations in Russia, are seen by the government of President Vladimir Putin as vital conduits for foreign payments, one of the people said.