By Giuseppe Fonte and Valentina Za
ROME (Reuters) -Italy is likely to ask UniCredit to leave Russia as soon as possible among conditions the government can set to clear the proposed takeover of smaller rival Banco BPM, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday.
UniCredit is among only a handful of international banks that did not leave Russia after the onset of the Ukraine war in 2022, with CEO Andrea Orcel saying he refused to damage shareholders by exiting without a fair price for the assets.
Russia’s government commission for deals involving foreign asset sales is yet to receive an exit application from UniCredit, deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev said on Wednesday, the Interfax news agency reported.
UniCredit has accelerated the reduction of its Russian exposure in reaction to European Central Bank (ECB) demands a year ago.
It said in February it had reached most of the Russia reduction targets it set for 2025 one year in advance. However, cross-border payments, which are difficult to cut given that Russian banks are shut out of the international payments system, rose due to one-off items in the fourth quarter.
In an investor document released this month for the Banco BPM deal, UniCredit flagged risks the ECB may take further action if it deemed progress insufficient.
Il Messaggero newspaper first reported news of the Italian government’s conditions for UniCredit.
Italy is also expected to ask UniCredit to keep a stable ratio between loans and deposits, and maintain current project finance operations, the paper said.
The Italian government is reviewing the deal under special “golden power” rules, allowing it to block or set conditions on foreign and domestic corporate takeovers in strategic sectors such as energy, telecommunications and banking.
It could deliberate on the deal as early as this week, with a cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday. Reuters reported this month that the government was leaning towards a conditional green light for the UniCredit-Banco BPM transaction, with a decision expected by the end of April.
UniCredit plans to launch its 14 billion-euro ($16 billion) all-share bid for BPM on April 28, but it has reserved the right to wait until as late as June 30 to decide whether to waive the conditions that would currently allow it to withdraw.
($1 = 0.8786 euros)
(Additional reporting by Alexander Marrow in Moscow and Alvise Armellini in Rome; Editing by Rachna Uppal and Joe Bavier)
