Raiffeisen Plans to Make Central Asia a New Growth Hub — Bloomberg

Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International is preparing to make Central Asia one of the new areas for expanding its network, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. According to the sources, Kazakhstan and other countries in the region will be identified as new growth markets in the strategy that Raiffeisen CEO Michael Hollerer will present in the coming weeks.

Acquiring banks in the region could be one way to expand the business in Central Asia, but Raiffeisen is not currently engaged in any negotiations, sources told Bloomberg.

“Western companies are restructuring their supply chains, and at the same time, Central Asian countries are increasingly turning toward the West,” a Raiffeisen spokesperson told the news agency. “As part of our strategy, we will explore how we can respond to these changes.”

Raiffeisen Bank’s potential expansion into Central Asia could be supported by a large one-time cash infusion, according to Bloomberg. On September 22, an Austrian court issued a ruling in absentia allowing the bank to take over the assets of Rasperia Trading—a company whose controlling shareholder until 2019 was Oleg Deripaska, a Russian businessman subject to sanctions.

The dispute between Raiffeisen and Rasperia arose from a deal that fell through, in which the bank’s Russian subsidiary had planned to purchase Rasperia’s stake in the Austrian construction conglomerate Strabag. In 2024, the bank withdrew from the deal after failing to secure regulatory approval. Subsequently, a Russian court ordered Raiffeisen’s subsidiary to pay Rasperia €2 billion in damages. Following this, Raiffeisen decided to seek compensation for its losses from Rasperia’s frozen assets in Austria. Rasperia has four weeks to file an appeal; otherwise, the ruling will take effect, and Raiffeisen will be able to apply to the regulator for permission to collect the compensation.

The amount in question is €3.15 billion ($3.6 billion). Receiving this money would effectively mark the first time Raiffeisen has been able to extract capital—albeit indirectly—from the situation surrounding its Russian division, which was previously the bank’s most profitable business, Bloomberg notes. Expectations of the payment have already boosted Raiffeisen’s stock: since the beginning of the year, it has risen 71%, outperforming all other banks in the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index.

Raiffeisen already has experience operating a small leasing business in Kazakhstan. In June, the bank expanded investors’ access to Uzbek securities, including government bonds. Bloomberg notes that Central Asia could be a natural growth area for Raiffeisen given its strong positions in trade finance and payments.

At the same time, Raiffeisen is expanding in other countries as well. The bank is finalizing the purchase of BBVA’s Romanian division for €591 million. Raiffeisen is also preparing to acquire Addiko, a lender operating in the Balkans; the initial value of this deal could reach €517 million.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor