Austrian banking group Raiffeisenbank International (RBI) has decided to reduce its correspondent relations with CIS banks. For this reason, Kazakhstan credit institutions have imposed sectoral restrictions on payments made through correspondent accounts opened with RBI. About this RBC said bank representative
As noted in the publication, for example, Halyk Bank, the largest bank in Kazakhstan, did this. Its spokesperson said the bank had imposed “restrictions on payments related to certain sectors” as the Austrian group tightened conditions for correspondent accounts. Other RBI customers in Kazakhstan did the same, he added.
A representative of Halyk Bank told RBC that this correspondent account was operating normally. RBI also stressed that both banks “maintain a deep-rooted mutual cooperation”.
On May 5, the RBI management decided to terminate correspondent relations with all Russian banks. The only exception was Raiffeisenbank, its own subsidiary in Russia. At the beginning of this year, the level of business activity of RBI in the Russian market fell. The Austrian organization minimized its presence on the territory of the Russian Federation. This was due to the difficulty of doing business against the backdrop of international sanctions, which was disclosed in the presentation of the RBI financial statements for the first quarter of this year. Against this background, the document stated that the RBI administration will continue to adhere to the path it has taken to reduce its own business activities in Russia.