The Czech Republic is investigating Raiffeisen Bank because of Russia – Kommersant

The National Anti-Terrorist Center of the Czech Republic launched an investigation into Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which continues to operate in Russia. The reason was the appeal of the Czech Association for the Rights of Citizens and Entrepreneurs, which accused the bank of supporting terrorism, since, in its opinion, while remaining on the Russian market, RBI “supports the financing of aggression.”

According to one of the authors of the appeal, Ladislav Pelzl, the RBI “receives huge profits”, but the money in the form of income tax “goes to the budget of the Russian state, which it uses to finance aggression against Ukraine.” “We are currently working on this, but it is impossible to provide any additional information about the progress of the investigation,” confirmed Ceska televise Police spokesman Ondrej Moravcik.

Raiffeisen Bank CEO Johann Strobl said the bank is ready to sell or spin off its Russian subsidiary, but this requires a lot of approval. Mr. Strobl clarified that he could not give specific dates, since the process is still ongoing, Reuters reports his words.

In March, the European Central Bank (ECB) demanded from the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank to close its business in Russia. Raiffeisen Bank declaredwhich is studying options for the future of its Russian “daughter”, but in the end moved spin-off of Russian business at the end of the year.

From August Raiffeisenbank suspended acceptance and purchase of cash dollars and euros from individuals. Since September, the bank introduce 50% commission on incoming transfers in dollars.

Laura Keffer