Raiffeisen Bank, practically the last large Western bank to proceed working in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, met with a large confiscation of its assets. The Russian court seized nearly EUR 2 billion from his correspondence account.
The Court of First Instance held that the Austrian bank owed Rasperia’s oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
In 2023, Raiffeisen Bank intended to acquisition 24.1% of the share in the Austrian construction company Strabag SE from Rasperia (a then Deripaska) in exchange for the anticipation of taking out any of the assets remaining in Russia. However, after 1 year, he had to quit the transaction as a consequence of force from the US, which felt that there was a violation of sanctions in this case.
In response, Rasperia filed a suit with a claim for failure compensation. The Raiffeisen Bank account only took part of the debt. Eventually, the bank lost almost half of the funds it had accumulated in Russia after the war broke out.
In Russia inactive remains the Italian Unicredit Bank. The Russian authorities in all ways make it hard for the last Western banks to retreat from the country. president Vladimir Putin sees them as an crucial channel for global transactions.
Source: Moscowtimes.ru
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