(Bloomberg) -- Raiffeisen Bank International AG suffered another setback at its Russian unit after a court in the country froze its shares in the subsidiary, further complicating efforts to sell it.
The ruling is related to legal proceedings by Rasperia Trading — a company affiliated with billionaire Oleg Deripaska — against construction company Strabag SE and its core Austrian shareholders, Raiffeisen said in a statement late Thursday.
The bank isn’t accused of wrongdoing but shares of its Russian unit could serve as security, because Strabag’s core owners include a regional Austrian lender that’s also a top shareholder in Raiffeisen Bank International.
Shares of Raiffeisen, which plans to challenge the decision, fell 7.5% at 9:37 a.m. in Vienna trading.
The freeze adds another layer of complexity to Raiffeisen’s ambitions to exit Russia with money in hand. The Viennese firm, which operates the largest foreign-owned lender in Russia, has been trying unsuccessfully to sell or spin it off for more than two years.
A complex deal that sought to get around the sanctions and allow Raiffeisen to repatriate some Russian assets failed this year amid opposition from Western regulators. That deal would have involved the purchase of Rasperia’s Strabag shares by Raiffeisen via an intermediary.
Rasperia is among the largest investors in Strabag, but it hasn’t received any dividends or been able to exercise influence over the company because of Western sanctions. It said in a separate statement to Interfax that it’s seeking almost €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in damages from Strabag and its Austrian shareholders.
Strabag’s shareholders include the largest regional Raiffeisen bank, which also holds a 25% stake in Raiffeisen Bank International.
A hearing at the Arbitration Court of Kaliningrad Region is scheduled for Oct. 16, according to Interfax.
In emailed comments to Bloomberg, a Raiffeisen spokesman said the court’s decision doesn’t affect the bank’s ability to manage its subsidiary, nor ambitions to significantly scale back operations in Russia. Meanwhile, the bank will continue to serve clients, he said.
Companies in Russia and Western Europe have been turning to courts to help resolve disputes in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed by governments. A Russian court seized assets of UniCredit SpA, Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG earlier this year as part of deliberations on a key natural gas project.
For Raiffeisen, the court move is particularly sensitive as its Russian unit has piled up more than €4.58 billion in retained profits. It cannot send those back to Austria because Russia has de facto banned dividend payments out of the country. That raises the stakes in attempts to leave the country.
Some lenders, such as Societe Generale SA, acted faster. The French bank sold its Russian unit within weeks of the February 2022 invasion, booking a loss of about €3 billion on the transaction.
--With assistance from Andrey Lemeshko.
(Updates with share reaction in fourth paragraph, rewrites throughout.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
