Raiffeisen Bank Russia reports 2025 loss due to legal write-offs
The Russian subsidiary of Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) recorded a net loss of €86 million last year, according to Interfax, citing an RBI presentation.
By contrast, it ended 2024 with a net profit of €873 million.
The loss in 2025 was mainly due to write-offs resulting from lawsuits filed by Russia's Rasperia Trading Limited. RBI's largest quarterly loss in Russia was recorded in the second quarter (€861 million). This was because Raiffeisen Bank Russia was forced to stop treating the recovery of Rasperia's assets in Austria (its stake in the Strabag construction group and 2021–2023 dividends due) as potential income. In its 2024 financial statements, Raiffeisenbank had made a provision of €840 million based on the difference between the €2.04 billion compensation that a Russian court had ruled payable by the bank and €1.2 billion proceeds that RBI expected to recover from Rasperia in Austria.
RBI said that derecognising this potential income does not mean there is less likelihood of recovering Rasperia's assets in Austria, but the group's management considered that "the strict criteria under International Financial Reporting Standards for recognising these expected proceeds are no longer met."
In fourth quarter 2025, Raiffeisenbank additionally set aside €344 million due to another lawsuit filed by Rasperia in which the Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court of Kaliningrad Region upheld a €339 million claim against Raiffeisenbank, reportedly due to the "dilution" of a stake in Strabag and unpaid dividends for 2024.
"In the fourth quarter, the Russian business was additionally affected by legal proceedings involving Rasperia. This will be taken into account in RBI's claims for damages that the group intends to file in Austria. As a result, the total amount of RBI's claims [against Rasperia] will increase to €2.4 billion," the group said.
In its presentation, RBI reports that it has significantly cut back its business in Russia since 2022 and will continue this reduction in 2026. Nevertheless, RBI continues to employ more than 8,500 people in Russia.
In August 2024, Rasperia sued Strabag's main shareholders for RUB 195 billion. In January 2025, a Russian court ruled that the defendants in the case must pay €2.044 billion. These funds were obtained through the forced seizure of Raiffeisenbank's assets. The court ordered the bank to pay this amount and, in return, to accept Strabag shares of equivalent value (28.5 million shares).
The losses incurred by Rasperia due to the collapse of the deal to purchase its stake in Strabag were estimated at €2.04 billion. The deal had been announced in 2023. Raiffeisenbank was supposed to purchase the shares for €1.51 billion and transfer them to its Austrian parent, but in May 2024, RBI abandoned these plans, saying it had not received guarantees from regulators that the deal would not violate sanctions.