Raiffeisen Bank International may sell Belarusian subsidiary

February 14, Pozirk. Raiffeisen Bank International is negotiating the sale of its 87.74-percent stake in Priorbank and its subsidiaries with Soven 1 Holding Limited, an investor from the United Arab Emirates, MarketWatch reported.

The disposal may lead to RBI’s exit from the Belarusian market.

The sale of the Belarusian business is expected to have a minimal impact on the group’s CET1, a key measure of financial strength. However, the transaction could result in a loss of about €225 million for RBI due to the difference between the purchase price and the book value of Priorbank’s equity. The group also expects an additional negative impact on its consolidated profit in the area of €450 million at closing.

In May, RBI announced that it had closed the correspondent accounts of all Russian banks except its subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank Russia.

Priorbank then closed its dollar correspondent account with Citibank. This affected the operations of legal entities using the bank for foreign currency payments.

On April 11, the Canadian government expanded its sanctions against Belarus, adding nine financial sector institutions to the list, including Priorbank. As a result, the bank stopped accepting payment orders to Canadian banks.

Last fall, the Belarusian central bank listed Priorbank among systemically important banks for 2024.