FLASH
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American authorities have warned the Viennese bank that violating the sanctions imposed after Russia's war in Ukraine will bring consequences.
"Raiffeisen Bank" has started maneuvers to escape the American punishment.
" Bloomberg " writes that the first part of a complex sequence of agreements for the repatriation of the capital of "Raiffeisen Bank International" blocked in Russia began on Wednesday, with the transfer of shares of an Austrian construction company, owned by the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.
"Strabag SE" said it was informed by Deripaska that he had transferred 24.1% of his shares - frozen by European sanctions - to the Russian company "Iliadis JSC". The plan was for Raiffeisen Bank to buy these shares, but according to Bloomberg , since the US opposed a direct deal with Deripaska, the signals are that Raiffeisen's Russian branch may then buy Strabag's shares from Iliadis" and will then transfer them to its parent company in Austria, as a dividend in kind. So it seems like a maneuver to throw ashes in the eyes of the Americans.
The agreement aims to bring home half of the approximately 3 billion euros that Raiffeisen has blocked in Russia, due to restrictions on cash dividend payments abroad.
American authorities have warned the Viennese bank that violating the sanctions imposed after Russia's war in Ukraine will bring consequences. According to the Americans, Derpipaska is sanctioned by the West and any agreement with it violates the sanctions. Raiffeisen considers the agreement legal, as it is not directly related to Deripaska, as he added that he will no longer proceed with any agreement that contradicts the US guidelines. But it remains to be seen what the American reaction will be.
Two years after the outbreak of war, Raiffeisen's continued presence in Russia underscores the depth of relations between Austria and Russia, linked to Russian gas pipelines and to Vienna serving as a hub for cash from Russia and former Soviet states.
The bank is a critical financial lifeline for millions of Russian customers who want to send euros or dollars abroad. But the Americans have put the Viennese bank under scrutiny and a few days ago a senior official of the Department of Justice knocked on its offices. / Pamphlet
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