Western banks should not pull out of Eastern Europe, a profitable region, despite crisis. According to the international information and study centre, CEPII, from June to December 2008, Western Banks reduced their debt in Eastern Europe by 12%. Although this disengagement by foreign banks is less than that experienced over the last few months in Latin America (-17% in both cases), it is much more significant in GDP terms, given that the banking sectors in Eastern Europe is 75% controlled by foreign banks, mainly from Western Europe. It is also much more rapid than observed during the Asian crisis of 1997-08 where, over a six month period, the exposure of foreign banks fell by 3% and 20% over the whole year. With $277 billion in debates in 21 Central and Eastern European countries, including Russia and Turkey, Austrian banks, followed by those of Germany, Italy and France are the most exposed Western banks. This figure corresponds to 70% of Austrian GDP. In proportion to their GDP, Belgium (KBC and Dexia) and Sweden (Nordea and SEB) are the two other countries most involved via their banks at levels of 40% and 23% respectively. The attitude displayed by foreign banks in Eastern Europe is being viewed with a lot of concern but CEPII believes that the banks from the countries most represented in the region (Raiffeisen Bank, Osterreichische Volksbanken, Bank Austria and the Swedish Swedbank) will do everything they can to keep their subsidiaries' businesses operational and which have until now been a significant source of their profits (around 30% of their profits before tax). (I.L./trans/rh).