Last Major US Bank In Russia To Remove All ATMs

Back in April 2021, the bank announced plans to scale back its Russian operations, which it has been running for more than 20 years.

The last major US bank to maintain a retail presence in Russia plans to remove all of its ATMs from the country. Citigroup's Russian subsidiary (ABK Citibank), which is one of the top 30 banks in the Russian Federation in terms of assets and held 153 billion rubles worth of citizens' deposits before the war, will dismantle its ATM network by the end of 2023, the lender said in a statement.

Back in April 2021, the bank announced plans to downsize its Russian operations, which it had been running for more than 20 years. After the outbreak of the war, the bank stopped working with corporate clients and then sold its retail loan portfolio to Uralsib, which was subsequently hit by sanctions.

In March 2023, Citibank began charging for holding foreign currency in its accounts. In August, it stopped accepting cash in dollars and euros at its branches.

However, it will not be easy for the bank to sell the Russian business. The government commission that approves deals does not intend to let foreign lenders leave the country easily, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev said last week.

He stressed that this would depend on steps being taken to unfreeze Russian assets. At the same time, the final decision on each deal will be made by the presidential administration, Moiseyev said. Many foreigners will not be able to leave because the Russian authorities have an interest in not releasing all foreign companies, also for political reasons, a source in banking circles told Reuters. "Often the principle of manual control works, and if there is no transparency - they keep a window of manoeuvre, we can release, we cannot release, we can nationalise, we can bring in external management," the banker explained.