Putin Approves Italian Bank UniCredit’s Plan to Restructure and Sell Its Russian Bank

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has signed an order allowing Italian banking group UniCredit to reorganize its local subsidiary, UniCredit Bank Russia, and sell 100% of its shares.

The official document does not disclose the identity of the potential buyer, and the transactions will proceed without requiring additional approvals from Russian authorities, according to Korrespondent on October 5.

The approved framework allows UniCredit to split off a new corporate entity from its Russian bank, with shares transferring directly to UniCredit as the sole owner.

UniCredit plans to keep this spun-off unit under its control to manage international euro and US dollar payments for non-sanctioned corporate clients. The remaining portion of the Russian banking operation is set to be transferred to the buyer.

The structure aligns with plans UniCredit announced in May regarding a preliminary agreement with a private investor based in the United Arab Emirates, Korrespondent reported.

UniCredit expects to finalize the transaction during the first half of 2027 and estimates the negative financial impact of the sale to be between €3 billion ($3.3 billion) and €3.3 billion ($3.6 billion).

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Under Russian regulation established in 2022, UniCredit Bank Russia was designated among 45 financial institutions prohibited from completing share transactions without special authorization.

The bank remains one of the last major European financial institutions operating in Russia since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Capital flight is being further accelerated by compounding volatility across domestic financial markets. Falling oil revenues and domestic energy deficits have previously triggered a 10.8% fall in the ruble’s exchange rate, prompting Russian entities and households to systematically acquire foreign currency assets to hedge against inflation.

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