Ukraine has refused to exclude Raiffeisen Bank International from the blacklist of “war sponsors”, as a result of which Russia’s largest Western bank has severed ties with Moscow, Reuters reports, citing news.ro.

In a letter sent to Raiffeisen earlier this month, seen by Reuters, Ukrainian officials questioned what the bank was doing to leave Russia, saying many of its plans were vague and incomplete.

The letter increases pressure on one of Austria’s largest banks and increases tensions between Kyiv and Austria, whose political leaders are lobbying for Raiffeisen’s delisting after securing a temporary suspension.

“A number of points remain to be discussed,” Ukrainian officials wrote in the letter, noting that this prevented the bank from being delisted.

“There is no time frame for the sale… it remains unclear when, if at all, the separation scenario could come into play,” Ukrainian officials said in the letter.

Raiffeisen intended to withdraw from Russia last year, but this has not yet happened.

A spokesman for Raiffeisen said that the bank could not give a time frame for the exit from Russia, as it depends on the approval of the regulator.

The blacklist has no legal status, but is symbolically important and has upset Raiffeisen, angering Austrian politicians and officials.

Ukrainian officials also raised concerns in the letter about Raiffeisen’s loan relief schemes for Russian soldiers, which the bank says are legally binding in Russia.

Austrian politicians succeeded in suspending the blacklisted bank in December, temporarily withdrawing support for new European Union sanctions against Russia in order to win the concession.

Austria has publicly supported Ukraine, but several sources familiar with government thinking said it was unwilling to completely sever its decade-old relationship with Russia, hoping that at some point it would be possible to restore relations.

Austrian government officials believe that Raiffeisen was unfairly included in the list.

Other banks, such as Italy’s UniCredit, which continues to operate in Russia, are not on the list.

Last October, at a meeting of European ministers in Kyiv, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg openly criticized the blacklist as arbitrary, a person familiar with the discussions said at the time.

Raiffeisen is the only Austrian company on the list.

Some companies were excluded from the list, in particular the Hungarian OTP Bank.

Although Raiffeisen was removed from the blacklist in December, its name still appears alongside 49 companies designated as “international war sponsors” by the National Anti-Corruption Agency.

A Ukrainian government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told Reuters the letter was sent after the Austrian bank announced its intention to leave Russia by the third quarter of 2024.

The letter states that this timetable for the sale of the bank’s business in Russia remains unclear.

The letter also said Raiffeisen had indicated in correspondence that a “sale/spin-off” was the bank’s “preferred option,” but no details were provided.

In the letter, Ukrainian officials also asked how long regulatory approvals from the European Union and Austria would be needed.