UniCredit receives Russian approval to reorganize and sell subsidiary

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree authorizing the Italian banking group UniCredit to reorganize and sell its Russian subsidiary, UniCredit Bank. The decree allows the group to separate a new entity from the existing Russian operations, which will remain under UniCredit’s full ownership to handle international euro and dollar payments for non-sanctioned corporate clients.

The remaining business operations are to be sold to an unidentified private investor, previously reported to be from the United Arab Emirates. This sale requires no further approvals from Russian authorities once the reorganization is complete.

UniCredit had been operating in Russia despite pressure from European regulators to withdraw following the invasion of Ukraine. The group previously estimated that the negative impact of these Russian operations on its financial results could be between 3 and 3.3 billion euros. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the first half of 2027.