The European banks that remain in Russia paid over 800 mln euros in taxes in 2023, which marks a fourfold increase from before the launch of Moscow’s special military operation, the Financial Times writes, Paralel.Az reports.

According to the newspaper, "the seven top European banks by assets in Russia - Raiffeisen Bank International, UniCredit, ING, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo and OTP - reported a combined profit of more than three bln euros in 2023." "Those profits were three times more than in 2021," when banks paid 200 mln euros in taxes, the paper points out.

The Financial Times notes that more than half of the European banks’ tax payments "correspond to Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International, which has the largest presence in Russia of the foreign lenders."

"The foreign lenders have benefited not just from higher interest rates but also from international sanctions on Russian banks. Such measures have deprived their rivals of access to international payment systems and increased western banks’ own appeal to clients in the country," the paper writes.