Strobl Johann

Head of Raiffeisen Bank International, which for four years could not (or did not want to) withdraw the largest Western bank from Russia

Austrian banker Johann Strobl (born 1959), with Raiffeisen since 2007, board member since 2010, CEO of RBI since 2017. The Raiffeisen Group is systemically important for the Ukrainian economy (Raiffeisen Bank in Ukraine is one of the largest), and at the same time the largest Western bank that remained in Russia after the full-scale invasion.

Unlike Société Générale or HSBC, which left Russia, RBI did not exit the aggressor country for four years of war. According to Bloomberg's investigation (February 2026), management initially expected that Russia would "quickly win" and business would operate as before — hence the delay in leaving. The Russian subsidiary accumulated over €5 billion of undistributed profits, blocked inside Russia. Strobl publicly explained that deconsolidation was "not in our hands": approval from the ECB, the US, Austria, and effectively the Kremlin was needed. He personally traveled to Russia to negotiate a sale — but the deal was blocked by Russian authorities themselves, who preferred to keep the bank as a currency "gateway."

Resignation and stock plunge

In December 2025, Strobl announced he would not renew his mandate and would leave in July 2026, leaving the "Russian problem" to his successor Michael Hellerer. The news caused RBI's shares to plunge 2.6%.