Major Italian bank winding down Russian operations – Kommersant
Italy’s UniCredit Group, one of the last major Western banks still operating in Russia, has begun scaling back its business, Kommersant reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Operating in Russia since 1989, UniCredit is listed by the central bank as among the country’s 13 key credit institutions. Alongside a few other banks from EU nations, the lender has maintained a presence in the Russian market amid international pressure following the 2022 escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
Apart from the Italian bank, those who have not left include Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the Netherlands’ ING, Hungary’s OTP Bank, Italy’s Intesa SanPaolo, and Sweden’s SEB.
Nearly the entire long-term portfolio of UniCredit’s leasing subsidiary in country, valued at around $32 million under contracts, has reportedly been sold to the Russian company PR‑Leasing.
“European banks are trying to maintain their business in Russia, but they are increasingly having to scale it back,” TopContact CEO Artur Shamilov told Kommersant, commenting on the report.
UniCredit’s chairman, Kirill Zhukov‑Emelyanov, who worked at the group for more than two decades and led the Russian unit for the past five years, has departed, along with two other top executives, a source at the bank said.
“The simultaneous departure of key top managers and the sale of a major asset is a clear sign the bank is preparing for a full withdrawal from the country,” according to Oleg Abelev, head of analytics at Rikom‑Trust.
European shareholders are reportedly pressing the group to shrink its Russian operations to roughly the scale of Intesa, the other Italian bank still operating in the market.
In the third quarter of 2025, Intesa’s Russian subsidiary reportedly reduced its assets by 17.7% to about $1.84 billion, making it 50th by assets and 23rd by capital (around $704 million). By contrast, UniCredit Bank is ranked 20th by assets, and fell 8.5% for the quarter to roughly $9.5 billion, as well as 12th by capital, at about $4.39 billion.
Last year, the European Central Bank (ECB) ordered EU banks with Russian subsidiaries to accelerate the wind-down of their operations in Russia, banning new loans and deposits, cutting existing portfolios, and restricting foreign-currency payments to enforce a managed exit.
UniCredit has since sought legal clarification from the EU General Court on the scope and enforceability of these obligations.
