Raiffeisen Bank makes millions on companies that supply Russian army
www.pravda.com.ua
Mon, 03 Feb 2025 14:39:06 +0200
Austrias Raiffeisen Bank International AG is making money from companies that supply products to Putins army.
Source Bloomberg Details Last year, Raiffeisens Russian unit received more than RUB 62 million approx.
US 620,000 in fees for its services from the Russian chemical company Unikhim.
This firm provided sanctioned companies with components necessary for producing military systems.
It is noted that after the Bloomberg report was published, the banks shares fell by 6.4 in Vienna.
Raiffeisen Bank carried out financial transactions for Unikhim using accounts in banks under sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB Bank and Commercial Bank Solidarnost.
In addition, Unikhim supplied acids to the Russian company Ravenstvo, which is also subject to sanctions.
The supplies were made for a project related to developing and modernising platforms and ammunition for multiplelaunch rocket systems and aerial bombs.
The US Treasury Department reports that Ravenstvo, which develops navigation radar systems, is a division of the sanctioned Russian concern GranitElectron, which manufactures key elements of missile systems.
It has also worked with the Proletarskyi Shipyard, part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russias largest shipbuilder.
Unikhim reports that Raiffeisen Bank also handled transactions for Totalelectro, which supplied cables to the Smolensk Aviation Plant.
It is reported that the bank is likely to have other clients facilitating supplies for the Russian defence industry.
High profits from its operations in Russia helped Raiffeisen Bank earn more than US1 billion in the first three quarters of 2023, accounting for about 50 of the groups total profit.
At the same time, the bank paid 277 million in taxes to Russia over the same period.
However, due to the capital transfer restrictions imposed by the Russian authorities, Raiffeisen cannot transfer these funds to its parent company in Austria, which has led to the accumulation of 4.4 billion of excess capital in Russia.
Background A Russian court has ordered Austrias Raiffeisen Bank International RBI to pay more than 2 billion US2.1 billion in damages to the Russian coowner of Strabag, the investment company Raspberia.
The Russian government will block Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit SpAs attempts to sell their local units to any buyer who may be subject to sanctions.
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