RBI moves date for possible spin-off of Russian assets to end of 2023

MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has moved the date for the possible spin-off of its Russian assets to the end of December, RBI CEO Johann Strobl said during a conference call with analysts.

"During our last call, we indicated September 30 as the earliest spin-off date, and that seems unlikely as of today," Strobl said during the conference call.

Strobl said that the group would continue to work on this option, and is now considering the end of December as the new date for a potential spin-off.

RBI is still considering the possibility of selling assets in Russia, Strobl said.

He said an informal look at the situation showed that the group had made more progress on a sale than a spin-off.

"I think we will get more information over the next couple of weeks, at least that's what we expect," he said.

Strobl confirmed potential buyers were interested in the Russian bank. However, he said any sale of the Russian division would result in significant losses for the group.

He also said that Raiffeisenbank, with Central Bank's permission, repaid intra-group subordinated loans ahead of schedule, taking into account high capital adequacy standards.

RBI Group assets in Russia include Raiffeisenbank and leasing, insurance and management companies. Raiffeisenbank was Russia's ninth biggest bank by assets, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the country's major banks, at the end of H1 with assets of 2.27 trillion rubles.

Strobl said at the end of May 2022 that RBI was mulling the sale of Raiffesenbank and looking at a number of proposals.