OTP intends to acquire the American banks Luminor operating in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. However, it has faced hostility and suspicion from local regulatory authorities who are unhappy with the activity of Hungarian bankers in Russia. The criticisms were heard in Budapest. "Given the bank's strategic interest in the Baltics and the limited progress in extracting additional dividends from Russia over the past year, OTP has begun to reconsider its strategy regarding Russia, including a potential complete exit from Russia," said OTP Group CEO Peter Chani. The bank plans to complete its review of its strategy regarding Russia by the end of the year. No timeline for exiting Russia has been provided. The bank justifies that after Russia's attack on Ukraine, OTP suspended corporate lending and withdrew intra-group financing, and current operations in the country are almost entirely focused on retail consumer lending.
