From November 1, 2025, the Russian “subsidiary” of Citibank will stop accruing interest and servicing all customer savings and accumulation accounts.
Customers have been warned that no new charges will be made to their accounts, and that services for products such as deposit and savings accounts will be completely discontinued. The bank has urged customers to transfer funds to other financial institutions in advance.
Last year, Citibank already stopped operating debit cards, money transfers through the Fast Payment System, cash withdrawals through terminals, and payment for purchases via QR codes. In November 2024, the bank closed its last branch for retail customers in Moscow.
Citigroup planned to sell its retail business in Russia back in 2021, but after the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, it decided not to sell the assets, but to actually liquidate the business. Since 2022, the volume of loans issued has decreased by 98%, and deposits from individual and corporate clients have decreased tenfold.
In April 2025, Citibank in Russia began paying customers for so-called “frozen” securities that remained under sanctions restrictions, but this was only about monetary compensation, not about restoring the circulation of assets.
As of 2025, Citigroup has only retained operations in Russia that are necessary to meet legal and regulatory obligations. Almost all corporate services for institutional clients were discontinued in 2023.
Along with Citibank, European banks are also reducing their business in Russia. Italy's UniCredit stopped accepting new corporate clients from October 2025 and significantly increased rates. Austria's Raiffeisen tried to sell its Russian stake, but faced restrictions that require approval of such deals with the Kremlin.
Only individual banks managed to sell their Russian “subsidiaries” – in particular, the French Societe Generale, the Dutch ING, and the American Goldman Sachs, which received permission to exit directly from the Russian president.
The final winding down of Citibank's operations is explained by several reasons: legislative restrictions on the sale of assets to foreign investors, sanctions pressure and the de facto isolation of the Russian financial system, a sharp drop in client activity, and the bank's desire to avoid regulatory and reputational risks.
