Free Membership
Newsletter
Help
Subscribe
Sign In
Search
February 8, 2023
All times are Vienna time
Search
Subscribe
Sign In
Countries:
Africa »
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burundi Côte d'Ivoire Ethiopia Ghana Guinea Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Mali Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda South Africa Sudan Tanzania The Congo Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Asia-Pacific »
Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh Cambodia China Hong Kong SAR India Indonesia Japan Laos Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Nepal New Zealand North Korea (DPRK) Pakistan Philippines Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Vietnam
Central- & Eastern Europe »
Albania Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Rep. Estonia Georgia Hungary Kosovo Latvia Lithuania North Macedonia Montenegro Poland Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Ukraine Western Balkans
Middle East »
Egypt Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestinian Territories Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey United Arab Emirates Yemen
Russia & CIS »
Russia Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
The Americas »
Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada Central America Chile Colombia Cuba Ecuador Mexico Panama Paraguay Peru The Caribbean Uruguay Venezuela
United States
Western Europe »
Belgium Cyprus Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Monaco Norway Portugal Scotland Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands United Kingdom Vatican City
Business:
Economy
Economic Policies
Investing in Austria
Securities
Earnings
Foreign Trade
Deals
Legal Issues
More Business & Economics+
Politics:
Domestic
Brussels
International
Diplomacy
Companies:
Professional Services »
Banks Financial Services Real Estate Insurance Other Services
Energy »
Oil & Gas Utilities Renewables Mining
Industrials »
Construction Automotive Industrial Goods Basic Resources Chemicals Other Industrials
Transport »
Airlines & Airports Shipping Rail Road
Retail & Consumer
Health Care
Technology
Telecoms
Media
Tourism
Other
Organizations:
Diplomatic Missions
International Organizations
Other
People:
Executives
Politicians
Diplomats
Entrepreneurs
Other
Lifestyle & Travel:
Culture
Travel
Personal Real Estate
Health
Food & Drink
Luxury Goods
More+
More+:
Events
Photo Galleries
Videos
Classifieds
Work & Careers
More+
Home
Countries
Business
Politics
Diplomacy
Companies
Organizations
People
Lifestyle & Travel
More+
Africa
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burundi
Côte d'Ivoire
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Mali
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
South Africa
Sudan
Tanzania
The Congo
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Asia-Pacific
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
Cambodia
China
Hong Kong SAR
India
Indonesia
Japan
Laos
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
New Zealand
North Korea (DPRK)
Pakistan
Philippines
Singapore
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
Central- & Eastern Europe
Albania
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Rep.
Estonia
Georgia
Hungary
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
North Macedonia
Montenegro
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Western Balkans
Middle East
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Palestinian Territories
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Russia & CIS
Russia
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
The Americas
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Central America
Chile
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
Mexico
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
The Caribbean
Uruguay
Venezuela
United States
Western Europe
Belgium
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Norway
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
Vatican City
Economy
Economic Policies
Investing in Austria
Securities
Earnings
Foreign Trade
Deals
Legal Issues
More Business & Economics+
Domestic
Brussels
International
Professional Services
Banks
Financial Services
Real Estate
Insurance
Other Services
Energy
Oil & Gas
Utilities
Renewables
Mining
Industrials
Construction
Automotive
Industrial Goods
Basic Resources
Chemicals
Other Industrials
Transport
Airlines & Airports
Shipping
Rail
Road
Retail & Consumer
Health Care
Technology
Telecoms
Media
Tourism
Other
Diplomatic Missions
International Organizations
Other
Executives
Politicians
Diplomats
Entrepreneurs
Other
Culture
Travel
Personal Real Estate
Health
Food & Drink
Luxury Goods
More+
Events
Photo Galleries
Videos
Classifieds
Work & Careers
More+
Latest News
Ukrainian War
Covid in Austria
USA in Vienna
UK in Vienna
Russia in Vienna
China in Vienna
Iran in Vienna
UN
OSCE
IAEA
OPEC
Sponsored Content
Tweet
Share

Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International Gets Under Pressure Due to Russo-Ukrainian War

People › Diplomats ♦ Published: January 9, 2023; 18:25 ♦ (Vindobona)
Sponsored Content

Its involvement in Russia keeps Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its managers, led by Johann Strobl, very busy. The subsidiary institution in Moscow is RBI's biggest profit earner and almost the entire RBI board is on the Ukrainians' "awaiting sanctions" list. Whether RBI will stay in Russia and how to proceed is still unclear, as the banking group is in a tricky situation.

Despite being accused of supporting the Russian war machine, Raiffeisen Bank remains in a tricky situation in Russia. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons; salech hcelas, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)

Since the beginning of the Russian-led war against Ukraine in February 2022, it has brought a lot of adversity to the Austrian parent of RBI's Russian subsidiary, Raiffeisen Bank International. The Russian subsidiary is one of the ten largest credit institutions in Russia. However, RBI is also active in Ukraine as one of the few European institutions and has around three million customers in the war-torn country.

For years, the Russian RBI subsidiary was the cash cow of the Vienna-based banking group and contributed a large share of its profits. As Vindobona.org reports, CEO Johann Strobl and another board member of the bank, Andreas Gschwenter, have therefore been placed on a list of persons for whom sanctions are recommended in Kyiv.

The Russian RBI subsidiary supervisory board includes Strobl and Gschwenter, with Strobl serving as chair. Aside from them, the Ukrainians have also listed other members of the Moscow bank's Supervisory Board as Peter Lennkh, Lukasz Januszewski, and Hannes Mösenbacher on their sanctions list. All are also members of the RBI Management Board - only Andrii Stepanenko, a native Ukrainian, is not on the sanctions list

Sponsored Content

The sanctions list and the individuals and companies listed on it are intended to build international pressure. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency Nazk support the project.

RBI commented on the matter on, as DerStandard reports, "For several months, there has been a Ukrainian list calling, among other things, for sanctions against members of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisenbank Russia."

According to DerStandard, it is emphasized that "no Ukrainian sanctions have been imposed on members of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisenbank Russia." RBI is also active in Ukraine, here under the name Raiffeisen Bank Joint Stock Company.

Among other things, Ukraine is also conducting Internet campaigns against Raiffeisen Bank International. Thus, there are already official pages of Raiffeisen Bank seemingly ironic pages such as Russiazen Bank International in which it is said that the Raiffeisen Group is an official part of the Russian war machine. Also open letters on the part of official places and many more NGO's were written to the company.

Many Western companies have meanwhile withdrawn from Russia, among the banks, for example, the French Paribas. RBI is also examining "all strategic options for the future of Raiffeisenbank Russia, up to and including a carefully managed exit" from the Moscow bank due to the unprecedented situation, as the company has been saying since last March, according to DerStandard "Due to the complex situation," however, no date could be given for the review to be completed, a spokesman told Der Standard newspaper.

The CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International, Johann Strobl, presented the institution's half-year results in the summer of last year. When asked what would happen to the Russian subsidiary, Strobl was cagey and said that all options were being examined. However, he would not disclose any details or a timeline, Strobl said.

RBI also remained vague about how many accounts it had frozen in connection with the EU sanctions and explained 70 to 80 account relationships with correspondent banks had been terminated. In the current year, the "stable" development is to continue, one or the other acquisition does not seem to be ruled out, there is "potential for consideration" according to Strobl.

Currently, RBI is being criticized on Twitter for offering a credit moratorium in Russia to certain groups of people, including Russian soldiers and their dependents, as well as people recruited from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.

#Austria's Raiffeisen bank recognizes so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "Peoples Republics" and provides favorable loan terms to Russian invaders in Ukraine.#boycottaustria pic.twitter.com/u6VSA7RdCj

— nymbase (@atharavesta) January 2, 2023

According to "DerStandard", RBI commented that the screenshot was taken from the bank's homepage in Russia. According to RBI, all Russian banks are legally obliged to grant a credit moratorium to conscripted soldiers. This means that the bank is complying with the legal requirements.

Sponsored Content

The Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Vasyl Khymynets, stressed in an APA interview, according to ORF, that sanctions would be examined very thoroughly. If it turns out that the Austrian bank "provides financial benefits to Russian recruits" and indirectly recognized the "fake republics", the separatist regions in the east of Ukraine, then this would also be a "moral problem".

According to ORF, the ambassador pointed out that recruits in Ukraine "kill and rape" and that Russian money is "tainted with a lot of blood." Chymynez appealed to Austrian companies to reconsider doing business with Russia. "It is not too late to make the decision and leave the Russian market."

Raiffeisen Bank International

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry

Copyright © Vindobona. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from Vindobona and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Sponsored Content
Fast News Search
Related News
Ukrainians Want Raiffeisen Bankers Sanctioned (January 8)
Wirecard Scandal: Trial of Marsalek and other Austrian Entrepreneurs to Begin (December 7, 2022)
Sanctions: 200 Russian Bank Accounts Frozen in Austria (October 5, 2022)
Read More
Vasyl Khymynets, Russo-Ukrainian War, Russian Oligarchs, Russia Sanctions, RBI Raiffeisen Bank International, Russia, Peter Lennkh, Lukasz Januszewski, Johann Strobl, Embassy of Ukraine in Vienna, Hannes Moesenbacher, Banking Industry, Andrii Stepanenko, Andreas Gschwenter
Featured
See latest Vindobona Newsletter
Sign up now for full site access and to read a limited amount of free premium articles per month:
Sign Up
×
Sponsored Content
Sponsored Content
©1995-2023 Vindobona
Contact
Help
Imprint
Press
Careers
Partners
Terms & Conditions
Site Security
Privacy
Sitemap
Advertise
About Us