The Italian government is likely to demand UniCredit’s departure from Russia as one of the conditions of its planned takeover of Banco BPM, Reuters reported based on its sources.
UniCredit is one of the few major international banks still operating in Russia after the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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The CEO of UniCredit Group, Andrea Orcel, says that exiting the Russian market without proper compensation would hurt shareholders, Reuters said.
Russia’s finance ministry said it hasn’t received any formal exit application from UniCredit yet, the media outlet reported.
UniCredit said that it has been cutting its exposure in Russia. The bank began reducing Russian operations after the European Central Bank (ECB) pressured it.
According to UniCredit, it had met most of its 2025 reduction targets already one year in advance, Reuters reported.
However, cross-border payments which are difficult to cut given that Russian banks are shut out of the international payments system increased in the last quarter of 2024.
In addition to the Russia exit, Rome may require UniCredit to keep its loans-to-deposits ratio steady and maintain current project finance activities, according to Italian daily Il Messaggero.
The Italian cabinet is reviewing the M&A deal with UniCredit and BPM under “golden power” rules, which allow the government to intervene in deals involving strategic sectors like banking.
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UniCredit plans to launch its €14 billion ($16 billion) all-share offer for Banco BPM on April 28. The bank has until June 30 to decide whether to move forward if conditions remain unmet.
Besides UniCredit, other international banks still operating in Russia include: Austrian Raiffeisenbank, Hungarian OTP Bank, Chinese ICBC Bank and Bank of China, Dutch Credit Europe Bank and American financial corporation Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, according to a KSE report.
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