The Vienna-based Raiffeisen Zentralbank announced it will stay in Hungary despite what it sees as an excessive tax burden. In 2012, the bank paid an aggregate €168m in bank surtax in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. The CEO of Raiffeisen Bank, Walter Rothensteiner, said that this amount is expected to reach €200m in 2013, which the bank will be unable to carry in the long-term, however he added that Raiffeisen is “definitely staying in Hungary.” He called for a lower tax rate in Austria.
The bank’s international CEO, Herbert Stepic, meanwhile, warned the Hungarian government a couple of weeks ago “not to use banks in Hungary as a self-service store.”
