Russia: Citi, Raiffeisen & other foreign banks seek staff as they struggle to exit; cos. declined to comment
Citi, Raiffeisen, other foreign banks seek staff in Russia as they struggle to exit, 21 July 2022
Russian divisions of foreign banks, such as Citi and Raiffeisen Bank International, have started looking for staff this month after Russian authorities moved to block them exiting the country, industry sources and a recruiting company said...
The central bank has resisted domestic calls to take over the running of foreign banks' local businesses, sources with direct knowledge of the matter have told Reuters, concerned in part that this could prompt depositors to pull out funds.
Last week, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said Russia would block the sale of foreign banks' Russian businesses while Russian banks abroad cannot function normally.
As a result, foreign banks have started trying to fill vacancies that opened up when staff left suddenly earlier in the year...
From April to June, banks with foreign roots had few vacancies open in Russia, but in July the situation changed, Headhunter, one of Russia's top recruitment companies, told Reuters.
Raiffeisen Bank posted 276 job openings in Russia in July, while Citi was looking for candidates to fill 84 vacancies in Russia, Headhunter...said.
Citigroup declined to comment. The bank, which disclosed an exposure of $8.4 billion to Russia as of the second quarter, has said it was exploring all options to exit its consumer and commercial banking business in the country.
Raiffeisen did not reply to a Reuters request for comment...
Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo's Russian business was looking for experts in client services as well as in foreign currency settlements, online job adverts showed.
UniCredit Bank Russia, part of UniCredit Group, which has been searching for a buyer for its Russian business, had 10 vacancies related to IT, based on the hh.ru website.
Intesa and UniCredit did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
In April, French bank Societe Generale became the first foreign lender to quit Russia after Feb. 24, selling its Rosbank unit to Interros Capital, a firm linked to Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.