Italian bank Unicredit makes good money in Eastern Europe, including Russia.
The return on capital there is almost twice as high as at the subsidiary of Hypo-Vereinsbank.
But Putin is now thwarting the plans of Unicredit boss Andrea Orcel.
The banker has to give up his takeover plans for the Russian bank Otkritie, which Putin actually wants to privatize.
In times of geopolitical tension, you have to choose your camp.
Orcel has already felt the pressure of the shareholders in the past few days, for whom he has a very open ear.
They didn't like the prospect of a politically sensitive deal.
So Orcel would do well to put the plans on hold for the time being.
Orcel has enough to do in other markets.
Germany, for example, is to be trimmed into shape and with the help of his partner Allianz he now also wants to establish a connection to insurance products.
Such deals closer to home appear safer for one of Orcel's main goals: to return to shareholders more than the 13 billion that Unicredit raised in the last capital raise.