Financial services group ING said on Tuesday it had “terminated” its efforts to sell its Russian arm because “there currently is no realistic expectation that the buyer will obtain the necessary approvals”.
The bank said in January 2025 it was selling its Russian business to Global Development JSC, a Russian company owned by a Moscow-based financial investor, but the deal has been waiting for regulatory approval since then.
“Our position remains unchanged: we see no future for ING in Russia and remain focused on ending our activities in the Russian market,” the bank said in a statement. “We are assessing the next steps to achieve this goal.”
The bank said it had taken on no new business with Russian clients since February 2022, has scaled down operations and has taken action to separate the business in Russia from ING’s networks and systems.
“We will also continue to further reduce our offshore exposure to Russian clients,” the statement said. “This exposure, which is booked by ING entities outside of Russia, has decreased by almost 90% to €600 million as of year-end 2025.”
The Financieele Dagblad said last month ING has been unable to sell its Russian subsidiary as promised because of Kremlin restrictions.
Any sale has to be approved by Russia, but the Kremlin does not want Western banks to leave because it relies on them as a link to international payment traffic, the paper said.
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