Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will not part with its unit in Hungary under current conditions, the Austrian lender said. RBI said it had thoroughly reviewed offers to buy Hungary’s Raiffeisen Bank in the past weeks, and decided after receiving the latest offer, that it would not divest the unit under current conditions. The Szechenyi Commercial Bank (SZKB), a small Hungarian bank in which the state holds a minority stake, would acquire Raiffeisen’s Hungarian unit for a token sum of one euro and the takeover of its bad loans. „The ball is in the Austrians’ court,” National Economy Minister Mihaly Varga (on the photo) said on public television channel M1 late Tuesday, referring to the possible sale of the Raiffeisen unit. „But I wouldn’t place a large bet on the transaction taking place,” he added. Raiffeisen Bank International said last November that it was considering offers made for its businesses in Hungary. Raiffeisen Bank International booked a EUR 81m loss at its business in Hungary in its Q1-Q3 earnings report published late in November. The loss narrowed from EUR 97m in the base period as net income from commissions and fees climbed and provisioning fell. The Hungarian business had total assets of EUR 6.27bn at the end of Q3, down 15pc from twelve months earlier. Stock of client loans fell 5pc to EUR 5.16bn and client deposits slipped 18pc to EUR 4.08bn.