OREANDA-NEWS The Italian bank UniCredit SpA has asked the European Court of General Jurisdiction to clarify the requirements of the European Central Bank regarding the reduction of its presence in Russia. This was announced by the UniCredit press service.

In this regard, UniCredit has asked for a temporary freeze of the ECB's claims until the court clarifies this issue.

The complexity of the situation is that UniCredit has already seriously reduced its presence in Russia: the volume of cross—border risks has fallen by 91 percent, and country risks by 65 percent. Thus, the Italian credit institution fully shares the ECB's position. However, the conditions set by the European regulator cause UniCredit to be wary. They fear that the situation could turn into "serious unforeseen consequences." Therefore, UniCredit wants the court to figure out whether the ECB has gone beyond its powers.

In early June, the head of UniCredit, Andrea Orcel, said that the probability of this bank leaving Russia was low. The Italians do not intend to sell their assets at a reduced price, and other schemes for leaving the Russian Federation are currently too complicated.

Meanwhile, the ECB's demands are a legally binding order. If UniCredit does not comply with it, it may be fined.

Raiffeisenbank, which has reduced the issuance of loans to Russians due to ECB regulations, believes that the regulator's requirements go far beyond their own plans to further reduce business in Russia and may complicate the sale of the Russian "daughter" of the organization.