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The American government believes that Deripaska will benefit from this transaction and has requested from "Raiffeisen Bank" detailed information about the persons and companies involved in this transaction...
The share price of Austrian bank Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) stabilized somewhat on the Vienna stock exchange on Thursday, following reports that the US government pressured the bank over a planned transaction with a Russian oligarch. Around 11:30 a.m., the bank's shares were the top performers on the Vienna stock exchange, down 0.5 percent to 17.75 euros, after plunging as much as 16 percent a day earlier. .
The reason for this was a text published exclusively by Reuters, that the Austrian bank will not be able to buy a part of the shares in the Austrian construction company Strabag, which is held by the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska.
Namely, at the end of the year, Raiffeisen International - one of the European banks most exposed to the Russian market - announced that it intends to buy almost 28 percent of Deripaska's stake in the Austrian construction giant through its Russian branch.
High cost
The transaction was intended to "kill two birds with one stone" - on the one hand, to help the exit of the RBI from Russia, and on the other hand, to help Strabag reduce the ownership of Deripaska, one of the sanctioned Russian oligarchs. It is about 28.5 million shares for which RBI offered 1.51 billion euros at the end of last year. By paying them cash to an oligarch close to the Kremlin, Raiffeisen hopes to be able to leave Russia more or less painlessly.
Namely, after the outbreak of Russian aggression against Ukraine and the imposition of Western sanctions, hundreds of Western companies left the Russian market. The Russian government is imposing increasingly stringent requirements on those who remain in order to obtain permission to leave and avoid naturalization. For example, the value of the property must be assessed only by consultants chosen by Moscow, and the government then demands a 50 percent discount on the price it pays to acquire the property of a Western company. Also, a contribution to the state budget of at least 10 percent of the price is required.
iMPACT
However, in recent weeks, representatives of the US Treasury have met with representatives of the bank and the Austrian owners, according to several sources familiar with the matter. The US government believes that Deripaska will benefit from this transaction and has asked the RBI for detailed information on the persons and companies involved in this transaction.
If the transaction is found to violate US sanctions, and the RBI goes ahead with it anyway, it would find itself under fire from US authorities and possibly heavy fines. Informed sources claim that the Austrian authorities will not give the green light to this sale and the bank is reportedly considering giving up. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from " Lider Media "
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