Raiffeisen Bank in Austria announced its decision on April 16 to replace job advertisements that featured "misleading language," suggesting an expansion of the bank's operations in Russia.
The move followed the Financial Times' report, which found dozens of postings for Russia-based jobs, touting the bank's growth plans in the country. One of the job postings, issued by the bank’s unit for medium-sized businesses in Russia, said its "key goals are a multiple expansion of the active client base and stable double-digit income growth."
In a statement provided to AFP, Raiffeisen Bank International clarified that the quotes featured in the job advertisements do not align with the actions already undertaken by the bank to scale down its operations in Russia, nor do they align with its future plans for the Russian market.
The bank emphasized that although it intends to sell Raiffeisenbank Russia, currently the largest Western bank operating in Russia, job positions required for essential banking functions will continue to be filled or refilled. However, it stressed that these hires do not indicate any business expansion efforts.
Raiffeisen Bank International said in its annual report for 2023 that it had made 2.4 billion euros ($.2.6 billion) in net profits. It paid 464 million euros ($493 million) in income tax in Russia.
Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention has refused to remove Austria's Raiffeisen Bank from the list of international sponsors of war, citing that the bank still does not have a clear plan to leave the Russian market, Reuters reported on Feb. 15.
Kateryna Hodunova
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