Der Standard: Raiffeisen is exploring the possibility of an asset swap with Sberbank

The Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is exploring the possibility of exchanging its Russian subsidiary Raiffeisenbank with Sberbank for the assets of Sberbank Europe, the Austrian edition reports. Der standard.

As noted in the publication, the reasons for the deal are the inability of Sberbank to directly receive profit from the sale of its European assets due to EU sanctions and the restrictions imposed by the Russian authorities on the withdrawal of foreign currency abroad, preventing Raiffeisen from using the dividends of its Russian subsidiary bank.

The Austrian bank called the likelihood of an asset swap deal with Sberbank a “theoretical consideration” and did not comment on how likely it is to be carried out. Raiffeisen also emphasized its commitment to comply with the regime of anti-Russian sanctions and noted that they intend to coordinate any such transactions with the Austrian authorities in advance.

September 2022 edition Frank Media reported that RBI is considering an asset swap with another major Russian bank, VTB. The head of VTB, Andrey Kostin, confirmed these negotiations, but said that such an exchange “does not find a solution at the political level.”

According to the Financial Times, the “daughter” of Raiffeisen Bank International in Russia – Raiffeisenbank – serves 40-50% of Russia’s payments with other countries. Also, the Russian division brings the group about half of all profits.

The US Treasury began investigation bank operations in Russia. In addition, according to Kleine Zeitungthe Ukrainian authorities demanded the imposition of sanctions against two top managers of an Austrian bank, indicating that the Russian “daughter” of the group provides favorable terms for lending to Russian military personnel.

Alexander Kislov