Goldman Sachs is selling its business in Russia and completely exiting the country.

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has approved the sale of the Russian business of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc., allowing it to fully exit the country. Thus, Goldman Sachs has become one of the few Western banks to complete its withdrawal from the Russian market.

This information was reported by Bloomberg.

According to the signed decree, the new owner of the division will be Balchug Capital. According to a source familiar with the situation, Goldman Sachs has already entered into a binding agreement to sell its Russian subsidiary.

This is not the first such transaction permitted by Putin. In December, he signed a decree allowing the French bank Natixis to sell its business in Russia. In January, the Dutch company ING Groep NV agreed to transfer its Russian assets to Global Development JSC, which is associated with a Moscow-based financial investor.

Despite almost three years having passed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, many Western banks continue to operate in the country, despite statements about their exit. For instance, Citigroup Inc. has curtailed almost all corporate banking services in Russia but still owns assets worth $9 billion.