Deutsche Bank is bringing hundreds of programmers from its technology center in Russia to Berlin. Germany's largest financial institution has offered all of the approximately 1,500 employees of its Russian IT center, which is spread across its St. Petersburg and Moscow locations, a job in Germany, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported (Tuesday), citing insiders.

A mid-three-digit number of employees have already moved to the bank's new technology center in Berlin, it said. Deutsche Bank would not comment on the report when asked.

In early March, Deutsche Bank had said it considered the operational risks from a possible closure of the technology center in Russia to be "very limited": "It is only one of several technology centers of the bank worldwide; a failure therefore does not pose a significant risk to global business operations." Deutsche Bank operates other IT centers in Bucharest, the U.S. and India.

In its interim report for the first quarter, the DAX-listed group struck a more cautious tone with regard to its technology center in Russia: "We are exposed to the risk that our ability to use these technology resources may be impaired or lost, e.g., due to sanctions imposed by the West, state-initiated measures in Russia or management actions."

With the relocation of staff now underway, Deutsche Bank is limiting its risk of losing expertise should it become impossible to continue the technology center in Russia due to tensions between the EU and Russia over Russia's attack on Ukraine, writes Handelsblatt.

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