The US Treasury warned Austria’s largest bank, Raiffeisen Bank International, about possible sanctions for continuing to operate in the Russian Federation, as reported by the EUObserver portal with reference to the department’s press release.
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The US Ministry warned the credit institution not to continue doing business in the Russian Federation, otherwise the bank risks “being isolated from the US financial system.”
The department estimated that in 2023 the bank made a profit of 1.3 billion euros in Russia, where the lender employs almost 10,000 people in 490 retail branches. The organization is also known to have been involved in providing credit benefits to Russian recruits.
Previously, after Ukrainian statements that the Austrian bank was a “financial channel” between the EU and Russia, US Undersecretary of the Treasury Anna Morris held a briefing with the Austrian financial sector and, separately, with Raiffeisen Bank lenders to discuss their activities in Russia.
“We, as a matter of principle, do not comment publicly on conversations with government officials,” Raiffeisen Bank responded to the publication’s request.
In addition to Raiffeisen Bank, the Dutch ING, the German Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank, the Hungarian OTP Bank, the Italian Intesa SanPaolo and Unicerdit, and the Swedish SEB continue to collaborate indirectly with Russia. The US Treasury does not comment on possible sanctions against these banks.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
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