Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) increased its pre-tax profit in Russia in 1Q25 by over 25% year on year to €575mn ($651mn) due to the stronger ruble, Reuters reports.

In 1Q25 high interest rates boosted interest earned on funds stored at the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), according to Reuters, with RBI’s deposits in Russia at €10.7bn and loans at €4.9bn.

As followed by bne IntelliNews, RBI reportedly “halted attempts” to sell its Russian unit amid a rapprochement between Washington and Moscow.  RBI came under heavy regulatory pressure to come up with an exit plan from Russia, the country where it made 60% of its net profit last year.

RBI has been cutting its loan book and has also cut its share in Russia’s payment market by half. Both the ECB and the US had continued to insist on the bank to abandon Russia.

"We keep working on a sale of our Russian subsidiary and are talking to several interested parties," the CEO of RBI Johann Strobl said as quoted by Reuters, adding that "it remains to be seen whether geopolitical developments will facilitate the exit from Russia”.

most recent reports suggested that the Russian government would block any attempt by foreign banks, including RBI and UniCredit, to sell local units to any buyer that risks being sanctioned.

This was confirmed in January when a Russian court slapped €2bn of damages on RBI in a lawsuit by companies linked to sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The Kaliningrad court case was connected to RBI's botched acquisition of a 28% stake in Austrian construction company Strabag, where Deripaska was reportedly the final owner.

While previously the bank blamed these legal and regulatory hurdles for delaying the exit, in February the RBI reportedly “took the decision to pause sale efforts as Moscow and Washington began to re-engage politically”, sources told the Financial Times in April.