The Russian divisions of banks Raiffeisenbank and Citi began to look for new employees after they realized that they could not easily leave the country. About it writes Reuters, citing sources in the market.

The war unleashed by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and the subsequent departure of foreigners from leadership positions prompted banks to explore ways to exit the Russian market. However, according to Reuters, the expansion of sanctions has reduced their opportunities.

According to the publication, banks began to close the vacancies that opened after the dismissal of employees at the beginning of the year. According to HeadHunter, a Russian job search site, Raiffeisenbank posted 276 job ads in July, while Citi posted 84. However, these financial institutions had almost no open vacancies from April to June.

Russian employees of foreign banks, in turn, are afraid of losing their jobs. According to a Reuters source, they “breathed a sigh of relief” after Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev announced that Russia would block the sale of Russian business to foreign banks until Russian banks abroad could function normally.