Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI)’s Annual General Meeting in Vienna [in April] saw protesters inside and outside the meeting demand action from the bank on its links with Russia, fossil fuel finance and controversial military tech. While protesters outside noted that RBI’s business activities “endanger democracy,” activists inside the AGM demanded the bank leadership provide a realistic and timely plan for a full exit from the Russian market.

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RBI, the largest international bank in Russia, was criticised over its continued large-scale ties to Putin’s war economy, as well as its financial exposure to the oil and gas sector and to US defence-tech firms such as Palantir. Protesters and investors called for RBI to immediately withdraw from Russia and to phase out investments in fossil fuels as well as in anti-democratic military and surveillance technology.

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Activists demanded answers over the bank’s ties to Russia and the fossil fuel industry, chanting “RBI, get out oil; RBI, get out of gas!”, and loudly objected to RBI’s investments in the surveillance and military conglomerate Palantir, which is regarded as an extension of the US security apparatus and undermines fundamental principles of data protection and democracy. During these protests, the meeting was brought to a temporary standstill several times.

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Contrary to its promises to withdraw from the Russian market, RBI remains the largest international bank in Russia. Since 2022, it has paid around €1.9bn into Russia’s state budget via income taxes – around 30 per cent of which goes towards the Russian military budget. In 2025, an RBI subsidiary was found to have invested €335m in Russian companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft, as well as in Russian government bonds.

Meanwhile, a recent financial briefing by BankTrack, B4Ukraine and the KSE Institute demonstrates that withdrawing from Russia would actually be cheaper than the losses risked by staying.

Max Hammer of BankTrack, who challenged the bank inside its AGM on its continued presence in Russia, asked RBI’s leadership: “RBI is still unnecessarily helping to finance Putin’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. This creates substantial risks both from a human rights and a financial perspective. Has RBI conducted heightened Human Rights Due Diligence in connection with its business activities in Russia? And why does the bank continue to cling to an unrealistic and unfeasible Russia exit strategy?”

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RBI remains one of Austria’s largest financiers of the fossil fuel industry. A report from Urgewald shows that between 2022 and 2024, RBI financed fossil fuel companies to the value of US$3.5bn. Of this sum, ca. US$1.7bn went to companies that continue to expand their fossil fuel projects – an increase of around 68 per cent over three years. In addition, RBI holds €232m in investments across more than 50 funds in expanding oil, gas and coal companies. Reports have also shown that the bank continues to process payments for the transfer of Russian pipeline gas to Europe – helping Russia export gas to the value of at least €7bn annually.

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