Raiffeisen may get €2bn in frozen assets - FT. Shares jumped 9%

Shares of Austria's Raiffeisen Bank showed the biggest growth in two months after reports that the European Union may transfer to the bank frozen assets that have been linked to Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska. According to the FT, it is about a €2 billion stake in construction concern Strabag, which could offset the bank's losses in Russia. Raiffeisen is the largest Western bank that continues to operate in that country.

Shares of Raiffeisen Bank International AG showed the strongest growth for two months at trading in Vienna on Friday, October 3, Bloomberg reported. Raiffeisen Bank's securities at the moment were rising by 8.9%, but then slowed down to about 6-7%.

Quotes jumped after the Financial Times sources reported that Raiffeisen Bank may receive shares of Austrian construction company Strabag. According to seven sources of the FT, the draft of new anti-Russian sanctions includes a proposal to unfreeze the securities of Strabag, which in the past was partially owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, worth about € 2 billion. These assets will pass to Raiffeisen and thus compensate him a fine in the same amount that he was forced to pay in Russia by a local court decision, according to the sources of the FT.

That said, ambassadors from some EU countries at a meeting on Friday, October 3, are expected to oppose such a proposal initiated by Austria, five sources told the FT.

Representatives of Raiffeisen, the Austrian Foreign Ministry and Deripaska declined to comment to the FT. Rasperia, Deripaska's company through which he owned a 24% stake in Strabag, did not respond to the newspaper's request.

If the initiative is approved, it would effectively finalize the deal planned back in 2023. This would allow the Austrian lender to withdraw profits from Russia, blocked there due to currency restrictions, Bloomberg writes.

Raiffeisen then rejected the deal under pressure from US regulators, who also imposed sanctions on Rasperia. The company sued Raiffeisen in a Russian court, which recovered €2 billion in compensation from the bank's local subsidiary and ordered Raiffeisen to transfer the Strabag shares to Raiffeisen. The bank said in January that the Russian court ruling had no binding force in Austria, which means it is impossible to fulfill the requirement to transfer the shares because of the sanctions, the FT noted.

But the possible unfreezing of Strabag shares has some European officials worried that it would legitimize "attempts by oligarchs to circumvent EU sanctions against Russia and strengthen the position of Russian courts, which have responded to sanctions with decisions to confiscate Western assets," the Financial Times noted. Supporters of the idea counter that it would prevent the under-sanctioned structures from benefiting twice: by receiving court-ordered compensation and by unfreezing assets after the sanctions are lifted, the newspaper added.

Raiffeisen remains the largest foreign bank still operating in Russia. However, it is under pressure from regulators and foreign governments to withdraw from that market, the FT noted. The bank is trying to scale back operations in Russia, but Russian regulators are reluctant to let it leave because it remains one of the few remaining access points to the Swift global interbank payment system, the publication's sources said.

Business in Russia remains one of the most profitable for Raiffeisen Bank, but because of Russian restrictions it can't take money out of the country, Bloomberg added.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor