Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday European banks leaving Russia would harm Western and Russian companies, referring to the large number of Western businesses still operating and using banking services in Russia.
With the majority of major Russian banks under Western sanctions over Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, foreign banks including Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria) and UniCredit (Italy) have become major financial bridges with the West, increasing profits in the process.
"They carry out quite an important function in transferring funds, not only for the benefit of our customers in these banks, but also foreign customers," Peskov said.
European Central Banking Supervision has asked all banks with significant exposure to Russia to accelerate their risk reduction efforts by setting clear roadmaps for downsizing and leaving the Russian market.
Raiffeisen has faced special scrutiny over its great profits in Russia and its relations with Moscow. The bank has been warned by the US Treasury Department in writing that its access to the US financial system could be limited, according to someone who has seen the correspondence.
"Don't forget that there are so many Western businesses working in the Russian economy, they continue to work here," Peskov said.
"They have large investments worth billions of dollars and most companies don't leave, but continue to work in this market."
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"So they use this banking service. If they stop, these companies will be the same as our companies," he explained.
It is known that about 1,000 companies have left the Russian market, an exodus of the company since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 which has caused foreign companies to suffer losses of more than 107 billion US dollars and loss of revenue, according to a Reuters analysis.
However, many multinational companies, such as Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Auchan, Nestle and maintain their presence in Russia.
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