Shares in UniCredit, whose Russian arm is one of the largest lenders in the country, fell as much as 8%. This fall was just before triggering an automatic trading suspension, that was hit by the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine. They also had landed troops on its coast. The shares in UniCredit fell 4.3%. This is against a 2.7% drop in Italy’s banking index. Rival Italian heavyweight Intesa Sanpaolo, is also active in Russia. This is where it has financed major investment projects such as the ‘Blue Stream’ gas pipeline. Also, the sale of a stake in oil producer Rosneft, fell 4.2%.
