Austrian bank opens underground branches in Ukraine amid conflict

Austrian Raiffeisen Bank opened its first underground branches in two cities: Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine and Dnipro in the central part of the country, the bank announced on Friday via the Telegram platform.

The underground branches were established based on traditional ones and will serve customers in the event of an air raid alarm. These branches can be accessed through a separate entrance.

"Underground workplaces allow us to guarantee uninterrupted customer service even during an alarm," noted bank representative Artem Nidzielski. "This is particularly important in constantly shelled cities, necessitating a prolonged cessation of work at above-ground branches."

The underground branches offer all banking services available at traditional branches, including opening accounts, taking out loans, and cashier services. In the future, Raiffeisen intends to open separate underground branches in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and other front-line cities.

Raiffeisen is one of the Western companies that did not leave the Russian market after Russia started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The bank only announced in the spring of 2024 that it would begin the process of winding down its business in Vladimir Putin's country in the summer.

Ukrainian Deputy Finance Minister Olha Zykova reported on Wednesday that Ukraine will need $12-15 billion more in foreign aid in 2025 than previously estimated due to the war's costs.

The Ukrainian government had earlier informed that in 2025 it would need $22.7 billion in foreign aid, Reuters recalled. Kyiv, now estimating that these needs will grow to around $38 billion, has already received $24 billion from foreign partners for these purposes.

Earlier on Wednesday, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck assured that Ukraine would receive $50 billion from the G7 countries, most likely by the end of the year, and an additional $4 billion would be available next year.

At the beginning of August, Ukraine received the first tranche of $3.9 billion in non-repayable budget support from the United States through the World Bank. Kyiv is to receive a total of $7.8 billion in direct budget assistance from the USA.

Ukraine needs energy solidarity from its partners, said Andriy Yermak, head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a meeting on energy security on Thursday, 9:00 AM EST (Eastern Time). Secretary of State in the Ministry of Climate and Environment Krzysztof Bolesta attended the talks from the Polish side.

The meeting concerned the implementation of the presidential so-called peace formula concerning energy security. The office of President Zelenskyy reported on Thursday evening that talks involving representatives of over 40 countries and international organizations were held online.

Yermak thanked the co-chairs of the group dedicated to energy security, namely Denmark, Norway, and Poland, for their leadership and help to Ukraine, including in preparing this conference.

- The defence of energy infrastructure facilities, their rapid reconstruction, and development is the only way to prevent the deepening crisis. Ukraine needs your energy solidarity - he said. At the same time, he added, Ukraine could become a platform for testing new practices of the "green transformation".

Krzysztof Bolesta emphasized that during its presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2025, Poland would work on continuing talks about Ukraine's accession to the Union, including the integration of the energy sector.