As recently as this year, Unicredit considered expanding its business in Russia, underscoring how unprepared the business world was for the invasion of Ukraine.
Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel sat at a table with Vladimir Putin as recently as this January to discuss business opportunities for Italian companies in Russia, while also considering a possible merger with state-owned bank Otkritie, according to a «Financial Times» (behind paywall) report.
A month later Putin became the world’s biggest enemy and, like other foreign banks, Unicredit started desperately seeking the best options to exit, rather than expand in, the country.
Orcel, who joined Unicredit a year ago, was eyeing Otkritie at a time when Unicredit aims to lift the bank's annual profits by 10 percent over the next few years. The Italian bank generates about 3 percent of its revenues in Russia and employs more than 4,000 staff in the country, according to the report.
Timing is Everything
But in face of escalating tensions over Ukraine and growing scrutiny over European business ties to Moscow, Orcel dropped the idea at the end of January. Just in time it would seem.
