By Adria Calatayud
Italy's UniCredit said it reached a preliminary deal to sell part of its Russian unit to a private investor in the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed sum, in its biggest step yet to exit the country.
UniCredit, one of the few Western banks that continues to operate in Russia, has moved to wind down its business there since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
The bank said Thursday that it would take a profit hit of between 3 billion and 3.3 billion euros ($3.52 billion-$3.88 billion) and book a capital benefit as a result of the deal. Its shareholder-distribution plans and long-term profit ambitions won't be affected, UniCredit added.
The agreement signed by UniCredit and the U.A.E. investor, which wasn't named, is nonbinding and completion of the deal is subject to the signing of binding documentation and regulatory approvals, the Italian bank said.
Other European banks that retained businesses in Russia after the war in Ukraine looked for ways to leave the country, but faced hurdles.
Dutch peer ING Groep last month abandoned a deal to sell its Russian business to Moscow-based financial investor called Global Development, saying there was no realistic expectation that the buyer would obtain the necessary approvals. Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International was blocked by a Russian court from selling shares in its local unit in 2024 and is looking to shrink the business.
UniCredit said the sale would help refocus its operations in Russia mainly on international payments for Western and nonsanctioned Russian corporate clients.
Under the deal, UniCredit's Russian subsidiary AO Bank would spin off part of its activities, which UniCredit would keep, and sell its remaining operations to the U.A.E. buyer, the bank said. Both parties will cooperate to finalize the transaction structure, UniCredit said.
The bank has in recent years scaled back its Russian business, but still made a profit of about 814 million euros in the country last year out of a total of 10.92 billion euros for the group as a whole.
UniCredit Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said during an earnings call this week he expected the profit contribution from the Russian business to at least halve this year and be around 100 million euros by 2028. UniCredit hasn't granted any new loan since the war started, he added.
The European Central Bank and the Italian government have pushed UniCredit to leave Russia. A Russia exit was one of the conditions Rome put on UniCredit for approving its proposed takeover of smaller rival Banco BPM, which was eventually dropped.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 07, 2026 08:28 ET (12:28 GMT)
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