The Russian invasion of Ukraine is costing big international banks dearly.
They have already spent more than 11 billion euros in provisions or exceptional items in the first quarter to deal with possible losses related to their retirement from Russia, according to a count by Reuters.
Most of it aims to cover loans granted from the euro zone or the United States to large Russian companies hit by Western sanctions.
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The establishments of the Old Continent are, unsurprisingly, in the front line.
The Italians UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo were the most affected, passing provisions of 1.2 billion and 801 million euros respectively, with the Dutch ING (834 million).
But their French competitors are not to be outdone, Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas and Société Générale totaling an impact of nearly 1.4 billion euros (also including provisions for activities in Ukraine).
In the United States, the giant Citigroup is by far the one that pays the most for its exposure to Russia.
The American bank has already set aside 1.9 billion dollars to deal with possible credit defaults and the economic consequences of the war.
She warned that she could lose 3 billion in total on Russian counterparties.
These provisional sums do not include the loss of 3.2 billion euros recorded by Societe Generale during the sale of its Rosbank subsidiary to the Interros group, owned by the Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin.
It will appear in the second quarter accounts.
Two other European banks, the Austrian Raiffeisen and UniCredit, still hold a bank in Russia, which they would like to sell.
But with the aggravation of the sanctions against the country, the opportunities for exit are dwindling.
