Russia: Citigroup cannot allegedly sell assets due to inability to transfer IT system to buyers
[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]
Credit disorganization: Citibank cannot be sold due to problems with the IT system, 27 March 2023
American Citibank cannot sell business in the Russian Federation for technical reasons...The problem lies in the inability to transfer to buyers the IT system on which all processes are tied. It uses Cisco and Oracle software and equipment, which cannot be sold in our country. In addition, the organization's IT capacities are located abroad and it is impossible to separate them from the general infrastructure of Citigroup, sources in IT consulting and in the specialized sector said. In an attempt to curtail business, the bank encourages retail customers to close accounts, and the loan portfolio has been sold to Uralsib...
Without IT systems that provide processing and conducting transactions, Russian buyers simply do not need a credit institution, the interlocutors of the publication say. According to them, the problem is that the systems use software from American companies, in particular Cisco and Oracle, which stopped its distribution in Russia in 2022. Because of the sanctions, the bank cannot transfer the necessary equipment and software to a potential buyer, they say. According to one of the sources, it was precisely because of problems with IT that at least three domestic financial institutions have already refused to buy Citibank...