Russia, Western banks pay 800 million in taxes. Here’s what they are

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The largest Western banks remaining in Russia paid the Kremlin more than 800 million euros in taxes last year – a figure four times pre-war levels, despite promises to minimize their exposure following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This was revealed by an investigation by the Financial Times, according to which the seven main European banks with activities in Russia – Raiffeisen Bank International, ING, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Otp but also the Italian Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo – recorded a combined profit of over 3 billion euros in 2023.

These profits are three times higher than those of 2021 and were partly generated by funds that banks cannot withdraw from the country. The increase in profitability has led European banks to pay around 800 million euros in taxes, compared to 200 million euros in 2021, according to analysis by the Financial Times. That figure adds to the profits of U.S. lenders such as Citigroup and JPMorgan.

The taxes paid by European banks, equivalent to regarding 0.4% of all Russian non-energy budget revenues projected for 2024, are an example of how foreign companies remaining in the country help the Kremlin maintain financial stability despite the Western sanctions.