*BankTrack and B4Ukraine denounce Raiffeisen Bank International's bid to recover €3.15 billion from a Deripaska-linked company as an outrageous scheme that would allow the bank to recoup its Russia losses while continuing to do business in Russia. *
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Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) announced last week that it intends to sue sanctioned Russian company Rasperia Trading Limited in Austria for roughly €3.15 billion in damages, in an attempt to enforce a claim on Rasperia's frozen stake in Austrian construction firm STRABAG that RBI has pursued for nearly three years.
A Russian court had previously blocked Raiffeisen from taking legal action against Rasperia outside Russia, but the block was partially lifted last week, leading RBI's management to conclude that a "positive outcome" in the case is "highly likely."
A successful claim would hand the largest international bank still operating in Russia a significant cushion against its losses there – and complete an "asset swap" torpedoed by US authorities over sanctions concerns in 2024.
In late 2023, RBI, facing growing pressures over its continued operations in Russia, had announced a complex scheme intended to help the bank unlock some of its trapped Russian assets. The deal was to involve an “asset swap:” RBI would receive Rasperia’s Austrian STRABAG assets that had been frozen following Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine, while Rasperia would receive €1.5 billion in cash held by RBI’s Russian subsidiary AO Raiffeisenbank that could not be repatriated to Austria.
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“For almost three years, RBI has tried to free up capital in Russia through backdoor deals with Russian shell companies. Previous rulings on its dealings with Rasperia underscore the risks of doing business with any company tied to sanctioned oligarchs. RBI must finally quit Russia once and for all – and, if it recoups money from Rasperia, that money should go straight to Ukraine as reparations for the bank’s continued ties to the Russian war machine,” said Nezir Sinani, Executive Director at B4Ukraine.
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