The court banned the transfer of Raiffeisenbank shares to the Russian Federation

The decision is related to legal proceedings initiated by MCAO Rasperia Trading Limited in Russia against Strabag SE, its main Austrian shareholders and Raiffeisenbank JSC.

The statement stressed that “the complaint mentions Raiffeisenbank, but does not accuse it of any crime.

The RBI is unable to transfer its stake in JSC Raiffeisenbank due to a court ruling, which complicates the process of selling a controlling stake “and will inevitably lead to further delays.” The company intends to challenge the decision.

MCAO Rasperia Trading Limited (before re-domiciliation to the Russian Federation – Rasperia Trading Ltd, the former structure of Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element) filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Kaliningrad Region on August 19 against ten companies, including Raiffeisenbank. The Bank of Russia is participating in the case as a third party.

The court’s ruling states that the claim was filed “for collection” and “foreclosure.” At the same time, the plaintiff requested that the case be heard in camera.

In December 2023, Raiffeisen Bank International decided to buy Rasperia’s stake in the Strabag construction consortium – 27.78% of the shares. The deal was valued at 1.51 billion euros. In the spring of 2024, the company abandoned this idea, after which Rasperia was included in the US sanctions list.

In June, the European Central Bank ordered Austria’s RBI to reduce its loan portfolio in Russia by 65% ​​by 2026. Raiffeisenbank then stopped accruing interest on savings accounts and suspended opening brokerage accounts for retail investors from September 2, the bank also stopped making transfers to individuals in foreign currency;