Vienna (AFP) – The largest Western bank still operating in Russia was on Thursday ordered to pay nearly $400 million in compensation for losses incurred by Russian company Rasperia due to European sanctions. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) said in a statement that the sum — 339 million euros — reflected the amount frozen in Vienna, and that it would appeal the ruling.
In March, RBI had already confirmed that it had to pay more than two billion euros in damages to Rasperia, an investment company. According to Washington and Brussels, Rasperia is linked to the Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, who has been under Western sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Twenty-four percent of the share capital of the Austrian construction company Strabag, in which RBI is also a shareholder, still belongs to him. However, his shares have been frozen, depriving the oligarch of dividends and influence in the company.
The legal action in Russia comes as Austria and Russia try to reach an agreement to repatriate their capital. But each decision reached has run up against either the categorical refusal of the US Treasury or that of other EU countries, whose banks left Russia while posting losses. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Raiffeisen’s continued operations in Russia.
The European Central Bank called on banks to leave the Russian market after the invasion of Ukraine, citing unpredictable risk. But RBI is hoping to recover its money once a solution is found for Russian funds in Austria, with Vienna threatening to block the latest talks about further EU sanctions. RBI still makes money in Russia, according to its quarterly results, despite a steady decline in its activities. The last shareholders’ meeting in March was disrupted by activists condemning its continued presence in Russia.
© 2024 AFP
