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UniCredit says sanctions hurting Europe more than Russia: Czech media

[September 26, 2014]  PRAGUE (Reuters) - Sanctions put in place amid the crisis in Ukraine have caused more problems for Europe than Russia, the chief executive of Italian bank UniCredit was quoted as saying in an interview with a Czech newspaper.

"The sanctions have caused Russia problems and my impression is that (they are) even bigger for Europe," Federico Ghizzoni told daily Hospodarske Noviny in an interview published on Friday, without giving more detail.

Ghizzoni also reiterated the bank's target of a full-year net profit of 2 billion euros.

He said UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by assets, was doing well in Russia despite the current situation but added an economic slowdown would impact the bank in that market. "But not immediately. In a year or two at the earliest," he said.

Sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union on Russia over Moscow's policies on Ukraine are hitting the Russian economy and restricting some Russian companies' access to Western financial markets.

UniCredit's head of central and eastern Europe (CEE) told Austrian paper Salzburger Nachrichten on Thursday that the bank did not expect a big impact from sanctions in 2014 but could not predict 2015.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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