经济学人精读节选100篇European banks are making heady profits in Russia欧洲银行在俄罗斯赚取了丰厚的利润
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本期选文来源：The Economist|June 8th 2024 ，需要经济学人原版PDF|全文中英翻译|MP3|大家下拉至文末下载|也可以自助开通本站会员后加入专属QQ社群或下拉至文末获取全文文档PDF中英翻译PDF,MOBI,EPUB,AZW3,MP3🎵等多种格式。
European banks are making heady profits in Russia欧洲银行在俄罗斯赚取了丰厚的利润
【1】DAYS AFTERVl adimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Raiffeisen, an Austrian bank, said it was considering selling its business in Russia. Twenty-seven months later, the lender’s unit in the country is doing rather well. Its staff has grown to nearly 10,000, a 7% rise since 2022. Last year its profit reached €1.8bn ($2bn)—more than any of the bank’s other subsidiaries and a tripling since 2021. Raiffeisen is one of a dozen lenders that Russia deems “systemically” important to its economy. The bank also matters to the Kremlin’s own finances, since it paid the equivalent of half a billion dollars in tax last year.
单词解析：lender：放款人
例句：Then you have one loan payment to one lender. 那么你有一金一贷放款。
【2】Raiffeisen is the biggest Western bank in Russia, but not the only one. The combined profits of the five EU banks with the largest Russian operations have tripled, reaching nearly €3bn in 2023. Success makes the banks a target. In May America threatened to curb Raiffeisen’s access to its financial system because of the bank’s Russian dealings. On June 10th, in an attempt to placate critics, the lender plans to stop making dollar transfers out of the country. Russia, for its part, is starting to seize the assets of Western banks it deems “unfriendly”. Western lenders’ Russian paper profits are at risk of turning to ash.
单词解析： curb：vt.遏制；控制，抑制，限定，约束(不好的事物) n.起控制(或限制)作用的事物
例句：He needs to learn to curb his temper. 他得学着控制自己的脾气。
【3】Some European banks, such as France’s Société Générale, sold their Russian operations at the start of the war. Although those that remain have reduced their staff by just 3%, their portfolios have shrunk by quite a bit. Only Raiffeisen retains significant exposure, with 15% of its assets remaining in the country, compared with 5% for UniCredit, which has the next-most. But it, too, has slashed its loan book—by 58% since the invasion—and stopped making new loans (even if it is rolling over some existing ones).
单词解析：exposure：暴露；曝光时间；面临
例句：I used a long exposure for this one.我这张照片用的曝光时间长。
【4】What, therefore, explains the continued profitmaking? One answer lies in the spread between the meagre interest rates banks pay depositors and that of the Russian central bank. The latter stands at 16%, nearly four times as high as three years ago. Another answer is technical. In 2022, anticipating a rush of Russian defaults, banks booked hefty loan-loss provisions. When the feared tsunami of bad debt failed to arrive, these provisions were released, buoying profits, notes Halil Sentürk of Morningstar DBRS, a rating agency.
单词解析：profitmaking：获利
【5】On top of this, sanctions have weeded out most Western competition. As a consequence, European diehards—in particular Raiffeisen—have benefited. After the invasion deposits at the Austrian lender soared, even though it kept its rates extremely low. That is because Russian depositors like to stash some of their cash in a Western bank, just in case domestic ones blow up. The lender also played a crucial role in helping foreign businesses move money in and out of Russia, accounting for nearly half of all payments with the rest of the world in February last year.
单词解析： diehards：n.顽固分子
例句：A few diehards are trying to stop the reforms. 少数顽固分子试图阻止改革。
【6】Yet such business is lucrative only on paper, since profits are tough to repatriate. Russia has stringent capital controls that prevent banks from shifting cash. At the same time, sizeable paper profits are attracting the attention of American and European regulators. Last month several lenders received a letter from the European Central Bank urging them to cut their exposure to Russia. Raiffeisen was ordered to slash its Russian loan book by a further 65% by 2026, faster than the bank had planned. In December the White House issued an executive order exposing foreign banks to secondary sanctions if they were found to facilitate transactions involving Russia’s military-industrial complex. In May Janet Yellen, America’s treasury secretary, warned European banks that “operating in Russia creates an awful lot of risk”.
单词解析：sanction：n.制裁；处罚；(正式)许可，批准；约束 v.实施制裁；惩罚；许可；准许；准予
例句：The ultimate sanction will be the closure of the restaurant. 最严厉的处罚将是关闭这家餐馆。
【7】The problem for European banks in Russia is that they have few exit routes. Ideally they would sell local units to other foreign companies, but few are interested in picking up such geopolitically complicated businesses. Selling to locals requires the approval of Mr Putin and, given the context, any deals are unlikely to be concluded at a fair price. Most recent attempts to complete sales have either dragged on or collapsed. More creative ways to repatriate capital involve big risks, too. Raiffeisen first came into the cross-hairs of America’s Treasury this spring, when it tried to swap some of its Russian assets for a stake in Strabag, an Austrian construction firm, ultimately owned by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch under sanctions.
单词解析：geopolitically：
例句：”The reality is that Antarctica is geopolitically contested.” 现实是，南极洲是地缘政治的竞争目标。
【8】That leaves European banks with a final option: to continue winding down their Russian portfolios. But even this is far from straightforward, and not just because of the increased scrutiny from Western regulators. In May a Russian court ordered the seizure of the assets of Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, two German lenders, because of their involvement in a gas project that was cancelled after the invasion. In a parallel lawsuit, the court also seized assets belonging to UniCredit, which is an Italian institution. All this means there is a good chance that many Western units in Russia will end up being at least partly written down. European banks face a high reputational price—and the pay-off is hardly likely to be worthwhile.
单词解析：reputational：声誉
例句：There is no insurance against this reputational risk. 它们缺乏预防这种声誉风险的手段。
长难句分析：
1）原文：Raiffeisen first came into the cross-hairs of America’s Treasury this spring, when it tried to swap some of its Russian assets for a stake in Strabag, an Austrian construction firm, ultimately owned by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch under sanctions.
2）解析：
Raiffeisen first came（谓语） into the cross-hairs (of America‘s Treasury)（后置定语） [this spring]（状语）, || when it tried to swap some (of its Russian assets)（后置定语） for a stake [in Strabag, <an Austrian construction firm>]（状语）, ultimately owned（过去分词作状语） [by Oleg Deripaska], an oligarch (under sanctions)（后置定语）.
2）句子语法结构详解：
* came 为谓语，采用一般过去时。
* when 为连词，引导时间状语从句。
* tried 为谓语，采用一般过去时。
* to swap 为不定式，作宾语。
* an Austrian construction firm 为同位语
* ultimately owned 为过去分词，作状语。
* its 为物主代词。some 为不定代词。America’s 为名词所有格。the 为定冠词。a/an 为不定冠词。
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