A central Moscow branch of Raiffeisen bank in front of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, 16 March 2023. Photo: EPA / YURI KOCHETKOV

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which remains one of the few banks operating both in Russia and the West, has been unable to find a buyer for its Russian subsidiary due to Kremlin opposition to any sale, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

RBI, which has become Russia’s largest lender largely due to its successful avoidance of Western sanctions, plays a vital role in Russian foreign trade operations, allowing revenue from energy exports to continue flowing into the country, much to the frustration of the European political establishment.

The bank has reportedly been looking to sell its Russian subsidiary and to repatriate over €6.5 billion of funds currently stuck in the country. According to Reuters, Russian officials fear that the sale of RBI’s Russia-based operations would lead to its Russian subsidiary being sanctioned, thus closing an important economic corridor to the West.

Analysts have expressed cynicism about how earnest RBI is about its desire to sell, however, as the group’s profits in Russia and Belarus since the beginning of the war have increased vastly, with net profits earned in the two countries constituting 69% of the group’s total global profit last year.

Austria’s Foreign Minister came to Raiffeisen’s defence last year, lamenting the speed at which businesses were being expected to decouple from Russia, and accusing other Western businesses of doing the same as Raiffeisen.

Austrian-Russian relations, and the former’s neutrality, have long been a source of controversy for other countries in the West, with multiple businesses as well as senior members of Vienna’s political establishment facing criticism for their deep ties to Moscow.