(Bloomberg) -- Raiffeisen Bank International AG suspended its full-year targets while maintaining the guidance for its core countries, after the European Central Bank ordered a faster reduction of its Russian operations.

The Viennese lender said earlier this month the ECB was preparing to order a 65% reduction of its loan book in Russia, where it operates the largest foreign-owned bank. That would mean cutting loan volumes in the country to about €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion), from €6 billion at end-September and as much as €13.7 billion in June 2022.

The regulator’s plans include letting loans run off and only offering credit in exceptional circumstances, Chief Executive Officer Johann Strobl said in a call with analysts, promising more details after second-quarter earnings. The ECB wants the wind-down to start in the third quarter, partly even earlier, he said.

Raiffeisen has come under fire for its balancing act on Russia, including efforts to leave the country with money in hand. It still has more than €2 billion of excess capital stuck there because of limits on dividend payments. A complex deal aimed at repatriating capital via the purchase of shares recently held by a sanctioned oligarch has come under US regulatory scrutiny.

In a presentation to investors on Thursday, the bank said it had already significantly reduced its Russian operations since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s still working on a potential sale or spin-off of the unit, plans it first announced in 2022.

The bank booked net income of €644 million in the first quarter on the back of higher net interest income and lower risk costs. About half of that profit came from operations in Russia and Belarus.

(Adds comment from CEO Strobl in third paragraph.)

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