Dutch financial services group ING has been unable to sell its Russian subsidiary as promised because of Kremlin restrictions, the Financieele Dagblad said on Monday.

Any sale has to be approved by Russia, but the Kremlin does not want Western banks to leave because it relies on them as a link to international payment traffic, the paper said. In the meantime, according to ING’s latest annual report, ING Russia’s profits continue to grow.

ING chief executive Steven van Rijswijk told MPs over three years ago that he did not see a future for the bank in Russia and that it would start work on a pull-out.

The bank said in January 2025 it was selling its Russian business to Global Development JSC, a Russian company owned by a Moscow-based financial investor, but now says the deal is still waiting for regulatory approval.

“The sale depends on approval by the Russian regulators and government, and that makes it uncertain,” a spokesman told the paper, but declined to comment further. The Russian central bank did not respond to the FD’s questions either.

“We continue working towards completing the transaction and our exit from the Russian market,” the bank said in its 2025 annual report.

In the meantime, the unit’s gross profit rose 58% to €157 million last year and its workforce grew to 157.