Deutsche Bank AG is reviving a push to cut reliance on its IT center in Russia as it seeks to further pull out of the country after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Germany’s largest lender has offered options to staff including severance packages and moving to other locations as “we continue to de-risk our operations in the Russia Technology Center,” a spokesman said by email, confirming a Financial Times report. The effort “minimizes business disruption and is in full compliance with relevant Russian legislation,” he said.

The offer follows a similar one last year when Deutsche Bank moved hundreds of employees from its offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg to Berlin, where the lender is expanding its technology hub. It had about 1,500 IT staff in Russia before the war on Ukraine.

The European Central Bank has been pressuring lenders to cut risks related to Russia, Bloomberg has reported. Commerzbank AG has made technical preparations to immediately remove its unit in the country from its group IT systems should that become necessary. Raiffeisen Bank International AG recently said it’s planning to sell or spin off its Russian subsidiary.

–By Steven Arons (Bloomberg)