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Hindustan Times
08-08-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Putin, Trump to hold summit talks over next few days, Kremlin confirms
Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet for summit talks within the next few days, the Kremlin said Thursday. Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the talks are set to take place next week.(AFP File Photo) Russia and the US have agreed on a venue for the meeting and 'together with our American colleagues, we are starting to work on specific issues,' with the aim of holding the talks next week, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. He said the location of the summit would be disclosed later. The announcement came a day after Putin met with Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin for nearly three hours of talks as the US pushed for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Trump has threatened to hit purchasers of Russian oil with secondary tariffs unless Putin agreed to a truce by Friday in the war that's now in its fourth year. European equity benchmarks and US stock futures rallied on the news, with the Stoxx Europe 600 gaining 0.7%. UBS's Ukraine Reconstruction basket rose as much as 3.2%, led by an 11% advance in Raiffeisen Bank International. A Goldman Sachs basket of European defense stocks fell 4.9%. The euro rose to a session high of around $1.17, before trimming gains to trade around $1.168. Other European currencies also rallied, with the Polish zloty up as much as 0.6% against the US dollar. The meeting is 'giving the euro and other European currencies a boost,' said Valentin Marinov, head of G10 FX strategy at Credit Agricole. 'While the details around the Trump-Putin meeting are unclear, the apparent progress from yesterday could be seen as an encouraging sign that the hostilities in Ukraine could finally end and a period of recovery could start.' Ukraine's dollar bonds extended gains and were the best performers on Thursday across emerging and frontier markets tracked by Bloomberg. The Moscow Exchange rose by more than 5% with sanctioned Gazprom PJSC, Novatek PJCS and Aeroflot PJSC among the top performers. Russia's ruble strengthened slightly to 79.375 against the dollar at 12:25 p.m. in Moscow. Witkoff raised the idea of a trilateral meeting involving Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though Russia didn't comment on that proposal, Ushakov said. Russia wants to focus first on the Putin-Trump summit, he said. Trump said Wednesday there was a 'very good chance' he would meet with Putin and Zelensky soon in another bid to broker peace between the two countries. The US president informed allies that he was considering a summit during a phone call earlier Wednesday that also included Zelenskiy. Trump was positive about the possibility of a ceasefire, according to several people with knowledge of the call. He also suggested that Putin would be open to entering into peace talks in exchange for discussing land swaps, the people said. Ukraine hasn't reacted so far to the Russian announcement of a summit. Zelenskiy said after the call with Trump that 'we all need a lasting and reliable peace' while adding that 'Russia must end the war that it itself started,' in a statement posted on social media. Putin has laid claim to Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, as well as the eastern and southern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson that his troops don't fully occupy. The US had previously offered to recognize Crimea as Russian as part of any deal, and to effectively cede control of parts of other Ukrainian regions that Russia occupies. As part of those earlier proposals, control over areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson would be returned to Ukraine. Putin and Witkoff also discussed Russia-US relations at their meeting and had noted that they could be developed in 'a completely different, mutually beneficial scenario,' Ushakov said.
Reuters
30-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Austria's RBI swings to loss after write-off for Russia legal dispute
VIENNA, July 30 (Reuters) - Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) ( opens new tab swung to a loss in the second quarter after a 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion) write-off over a legal dispute in Russia, figures released on Wednesday showed. The bank's consolidated loss was 557 million euros in the quarter, compared with a profit of 661 million euros a year earlier. RBI, the most important Western Bank in Russia, last week said it would "derecognize" 1.2 billion euros in expected proceeds from enforcing claims against Rasperia Trading Limited's Austrian assets. In June, a Russian court had rejected RBI's bid to lift an injunction banning the sale of its local subsidiary. The ban is tied to a lawsuit brought by Rasperia, a Russian investment firm, after a collapsed deal in which RBI was ordered last year to pay 2 billion euros in damages. Excluding Russia, the bank posted a profit of 307 million euros, up from 237 million euros in the year-earlier period. RBI, which came from the United States as well as European regulators to pare its ties to Russia, continued to reduce its loan portfolio in Russia in the first half of the year and is ahead of the schedule agreed with the ECB, the figures showed. Deposit volumes also declined further. ($1 = 0.8659 euros)
Reuters
06-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Austria's RBI reports lower Q1 earnings on higher costs, risk overlays
VIENNA, May 6 (Reuters) - Raiffeisen Bank International's (RBI) ( opens new tab profit after tax fell 10.7% to 318 million euros ($360 million) in the first quarter, the Austrian lender said on Tuesday, citing higher provisions for loan defaults and higher administrative costs. The quarterly figure, which did not include its business in Russia and Belarus, came in above average analysts' expectations of 305 million euros. RBI is the biggest Western bank still operating in Russia. It is planning to sell its business there but has struggled to obtain regulatory clearance from Moscow. "We keep working on a sale of our Russian subsidiary and are talking to several interested parties. It remains to be seen whether geopolitical developments will facilitate the exit from Russia," RBI CEO Johann Strobl said. Strobl said the bank had managed to further strengthen its equity buffer, preparing it "for any scenario in Russia". The bank confirmed its full-year outlook. ($1 = 0.8839 euros)
Reuters
18-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank denies report it has halted Russia unit sale
VIENNA, April 18 (Reuters) - Raiffeisen Bank International ( opens new tab, the largest Western bank still operating in Russia, is proceeding with the sale of its Russian unit, the bank said on Friday, rejecting a media report that the process had been put on hold. RBI has been under pressure from authorities on both sides of the Atlantic to reduce its footprint in Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and the bank has said a sale of 60% of its business in Russia is the most likely plan. Earlier on Friday, the Financial Times reported that RBI had halted efforts to sell its Russia unit amid a rapprochement between Washington and Moscow since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to power. An RBI spokesperson told Reuters the report was incorrect. "The sale process is neither stopped nor on hold, the sale process is continuing," the spokesperson said. The Kremlin said it had no information on the FT report and that the bank was continuing operations in Russia.
Khaleej Times
24-03-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Rush to Russian assets belies 'permafrost' some investors fear
Large fund managers expect the bulk of Russia's assets to remain closed to Western investors, despite a flurry of "exotic" trades betting on a rapprochement between Moscow and Washington. The diplomatic thaw, ushered in by US President Donald Trump's perceived openness to Russia's Vladimir Putin, has prompted bets on Russian-linked financial assets, including the rouble, Kazakhstan's tenge currency — a rouble proxy — and the bonds of Russian energy companies Gazprom and Lukoil. But rather than a gold rush back into Russia, which has been isolated from the global financial system since it invaded Ukraine in 2022, veteran players say they expect a longer-term hiving off of key parts of Russia's economy from foreign investors. "We see maybe some asset swaps," said Gunter Deuber, head of research for Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International — one of the few Western banks still operating in Russia. "There are still a lot of assets of Russia that are in the West and of the West that are in Russia. And I think having asset swaps is now a rather nice way to de-risk on both sides." Last week, Putin issued a decree allowing US hedge fund 683 Capital Partners to buy securities in Russian companies from certain foreign stakeholders. But the order also authorised their future sale to two Russian funds, quashing hopes this indicated an impending reopening. Rush to position Still, investors said there are increasing queries from brokers dealing in Russia-related assets. One of the favourites is roubles via non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) - derivatives traded and settled in dollars that shield investors from sanctions complications, although much like the rouble, their value is linked to Russia's economy. The rouble is the top performer among emerging currencies this year, having strengthened some 30% against the dollar. Data from UBS showed hedge funds betting on directional trends held $8.7 billion worth of rouble NDFs in early March, the second-largest long position across major currencies - indicating funds expect the currency to strengthen. These bets allow traders to cash in if Russia's markets surge amid a Trump/Putin rapprochement. "Investors can definitely try to get exposure to some end of sanctions without having some direct Ukrainian or Russian exposure," said Anton Hauser, senior fund manager with Erste Asset Management, calling the NDF trade "very niche". But for now - and for years to come, Hauser expects - Erste is unlikely to get involved, despite holding some sanctions-frozen local Russian currency bonds. "It's extremely exotic at the moment," he said. Analysts estimate the average daily volume in rouble NDF trade at $25 million to $40 million - a fraction of the $2-2.5 billion in daily pre-war rouble trading. Investors said interest had also spiked for still-tradeable corporate hard-currency bonds issued by Russian firms - such as Gazprom, Lukoil and fertiliser company Phosagro. But poor liquidity means buyers demand a discount. "They still pay you coupons, but tradability is very, very poor," said Sergey Dergachev, portfolio manager at Union Investment Privatfonds. Hard-currency debt issued by Russian corporates was once an emerging market mainstay; the nearly $100 billion outstanding accounted for 4% of indexes in 2022, and international investors held roughly a fifth of that, according to JPMorgan calculations at the time. Proxy trades have also strengthened since Trump's return, including the sovereign bonds and currencies of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan - Russian neighbours with closely linked economies. Investors say brokers in Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American nations with access to Russia's domestic markets - and deemed "friendly" by the Kremlin - have increased offers of Russian-related trades. Brokers say investors, including US and European distressed asset managers, are more interested in exposure to Russia's still-sanctioned rouble-denominated OFZ bonds, even though sanctions on Russia's National Settlement Depository and Moscow Stock Exchange MOEX mean direct ownership is impossible. Ararat Mkrtchian, CEO of Armenian broker Sirius Capital, said yields of around 15% are enough to spark interest in domestic government bonds despite the hefty losses many foreign investors suffered when sanctions took effect. "In general, there is a desire from foreign capital to return because this is a highly depreciated but high-quality financial asset - if you forget about politics," said Mkrtchian. Europe vs US A growing gap between Europe's approach to Russia and that of the United States under Trump could complicate hopes to trade sanctioned assets, such as Russian government bonds, more actively. "The friendliness that we see on the highest levels between Washington and Moscow doesn't exist between most European leaders and the Kremlin," said Petar Atanasov, Gramercy Funds Management's co-head of sovereign research. While Trump has held direct talks with Putin, Europe is now making its largest defence spending push since World War II and has doubled down on sanctions. And one of the biggest obstacles is Russian law: Amid the sanctions onslaught, Moscow passed laws restricting asset ownership and trading by parties in "unfriendly" countries. This combination has transformed Russia's economy, with a much larger state role, said ProMeritum Investment Management's Pavel Mamai, and there are no clear signs yet Moscow is willing to open up again. "I don't believe that the Russian market and the international market will be merged again in short future."
