Welcome to „Discover CEE“!

This is Raiffeisen Bank International’s blog and information platform for leading experts, analysts and successful entrepreneurs and companies, to share their ideas, visions and experiences about doing business in CEE. Our goal is to connect opinion leaders, inspire entrepreneurs and businesses and show the potential, diversity and beauty of the entire CEE region.

  • What does responsible banking mean?

    By Eliza-Alina Gheorghe, Raiffeisen Bank Romania | The four pillars of responsible banking are: following the right way, keeping your promises, doing more than you are asked to and being trustworthy. Doing responsible banking means getting involved in sustainable and durable projects that are of value to our societies. In practice, it means offering customers […]

  • Responsible Banking: What banks can do to make a contribution to the current global problems

    By Alexandra Jocham, RBI | In the 21st century, we live in a world of global challenges such as climate change, financial crises, the COVID disease, rising political threats and ethical dilemmas. We face unprecedented levels of disruption in economics, social and environmental challenges of huge proportions. Banks as financial intermediaries play a key role […]

  • 7 reasons why the green transformation is a chance for banks in CEE

    By Jörg Bayer and Gunter Deuber, RBI Vienna | The green transformation in the financial world can no longer be stopped, and this is especially true in Europe, where the EU Commission and the ECB are now joining forces at the highest level to accelerate the green transformation, especially in fixed income markets; the latter […]

  • The new wave of supervisory expectations for the management and disclosure of climate-related and environmental risks

    By Christine Würfel, RBI | Despite the economic crisis triggered by the covid-19 pandemic, financial regulators and supervisors do not lose focus on a major long-term threat for financial stability: climate related and environmental risk. Supervisory Expectations The European Central Bank (ECB) has identified climate-related risks as a key risk driver on the Single Supervisory […]

  • Corona crisis: Adapting business to the new challenges – a case study with Ukrainian manufacturer Kievguma

    By Alexandra Jocham, RBI | We looked for a company that was particularly well adapted to the Corona crisis and found it in Kievguma, which now produces reusable protective clothing for medical personnel. Find out more about the Ukrainian manufacturer here. Kievguma https://kievguma.ua/ quickly reacted to the spread of the Coronavirus and launched the production […]

  • Austria and the “new normality”: Economic experiences of the “first mover”

    By Matthias Reith, RBI | As in most if not all other countries, also in Austria the lockdown and the subsequent easing of restrictions are the major drivers of business cycle dynamics since March. On March 16th, earlier than most other Western European countries, Austria implemented a complete lockdown, especially in the consumer-related service sectors, […]

  • 4 factors how to make an impact with sustainable investments

    By Michal Kustra, RCM | Michal Kustra, Member of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Capital Management and responsible for Sales in Italy and CEE as well as for the Center of Competence CEE, shares with us his four main factors how to make an impact by responsible banking. Sustainable investment is the fastest growing segment in […]

  • Holidays at home

    By Patricia Lang-Schönberger, RBI | During times where the Corona situation is ever so present – and new corona cases are steadily increasing again – you might not want to travel abroad but rather stay at home and enjoy the beauty of your own home country. Together with our colleagues from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania and […]

  • Is cloud computing secure?

    By Stefan Jakoubi, Philipp Reisinger, SBA Research                 Since its inception in 2006, we have to ask continuously if cloud computing is actually secure. It is a controversial topic which causes vivid debates and led to a divide between proponents and critics, whereby both sides bring valid arguments […]