European banks operating in Russia have increased their financial contributions to the Russian treasury, with tax payments surpassing 800 million euros in 2023, up from 200 million euros in 2021.
This information comes from a report by the Financial Times.
Photo: FT
Growing Contributions to Russia
The banks implicated in these growing financial contributions include Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Italy's UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, Germany's Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, the Netherlands' ING, and Hungary's OTP.
RBI made the most substantial tax contribution, accounting for over half of the total taxes paid by European banks in Russia last year. This significant payment was linked to RBI's extensive operations in Russia, where its profits from 2021 to 2023 more than tripled, reaching 1.8 billion euros.
Collectively, these seven European banks reported profits totaling 3 billion euros in Russia for 2023, tripling the figure from 2021. This profit surge was partly due to restrictions on repatriating funds from Russia, as stated by the Financial Times.
The taxes contributed by these banks constitute approximately 0.4% of all anticipated non-energy budget revenues for the Russian Federation in 2024.
Further, a report from the Kiev School of Economics indicated that Russian authorities blocked about $18 billion earned by Western companies in Russia in 2022, showcasing the difficulties these companies face in moving their profits out of the country.
Among these, Raiffeisen Bank reported the highest earnings of $2 billion, with American companies Philip Morris and PepsiCo following with earnings of $775 and $718 million, respectively.
