A new briefing paper released by BankTrack and the B4Ukraine coalition shows that Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is still failing to meaningfully address the human rights implications of its operations in Russia. The briefing draws together nearly three years of data and investigations into RBI, the largest international bank still operating in Russia. Nearly three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, results indicate that the values of both the assets and the profits of RBI’s Russian subsidiary remain higher than pre-war levels, while the bank continues to stall on its commitment to exit Russia.

Most notably, the briefing shows that Raiffeisenbank Russia continues to provide payment services and tax contributions that risk materially contributing to the Russian war effort. The bank is found to have made more than €1.3 billion in tax payments since the beginning of the war, with annual payments also remaining  significantly higher than pre-invasion levels. These findings indicate that the Russian government and its war effort continue to benefit significantly from RBI’s presence in the country (roughly 40% of Russia’s government budget is earmarked for military purposes).

The briefing also highlights that RBI continues to serve a base of 4 million retail and corporate clients in Russia. Though the bank has restricted its lending activities, it continues to facilitate international payments for hundreds of companies seeking to do business abroad, making it one of the only banks in Russia to provide its clients with access to the global payment network SWIFT.

These findings provide crucial background to the Russian government’s classification of RBI as one of just two “systemically important” foreign banks remaining in the country. As the report notes, the size and scope of RBI’s Russian operations exceed those of all other remaining Western banks put together. This outsized presence continues to sustain the Russian wartime economy.

The paper sheds doubt on Raiffeisen’s long-promised Russian exit. Since February 2022, the majority of Western-operated banking groups have sold or shut down their Russian operations, with RBI among just a handful of international banks still operating in the country. While the bank has publicly discussed its intention to sell off its Russian subsidiary and leave Russia since March 2022, progress has been extremely slow. Although a sale of its Russian unit has been de facto impossible since September 2024, RBI has still failed to adequately explore alternative options to leave the country.

Max Hammer, human rights campaigner at BankTrack, said: “Three years into Russia’s war on Ukraine, it’s alarming to see that RBI is still turning a tidy profit and refusing to make any realistic steps towards leaving the Russian market. RBI must urgently start winding down its Russian operations to zero immediately, clarify what steps it is taking to ensure its operations don’t expose it to Russia’s war effort, and commit its Russian profits to the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war. RBI has already spent too long enabling this illegal and destructive war–anything less, at this point, risks putting it on the path to full complicity in Russian war crimes.”

The briefing paper can be downloaded in English here and in German here.