ECB’s Enria hopes European banks will leave Russia soon

Andrea Enria attends a debate with the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels, Belgium, September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman

TRENTO, Italy, June 3 (Reuters) – The European Central Bank hopes euro zone banks will soon sell off their Russian assets, ECB chief supervisor Andrea Enria said on Friday as Moscow teetered on the brink of default.

As Russia’s economy shrinks and is isolated by the sweeping sanctions imposed by the West following its invasion of Ukraine, many eurozone lenders, including France’s Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) and Raiffeisen Austrian Bank International (RBIV.VI), have left or are seeking to leave the country.

“All the European banks said they would sell, they are all trying to sell,” Enria said at an event in Italy. “Some have sold or are in negotiation – it’s not an easy process, I hope it will be over soon.”

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SocGen sold its Russian unit and UniCredit sold part of its assets in the country via swaps.

Enria reiterated that the direct impact of the Russian economic crisis on eurozone banks was “manageable” and that banks would generally cope well with a prolonged recession resulting from the crisis in Ukraine, although some may struggle. .

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Additional reporting by Valentina Za; Written by Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt; Editing by Jon Boyle, Kirsten Donovan

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