Reported by Sam Jones

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International has concluded a complex asset swap arrangement with Oleg Deripaska that skirts EU sanctions restrictions to hand the Russian oligarch roubles worth €1.5bn.

In a statement on Tuesday, RBI said its Russian subsidiary would make the cash payment to Deripaska in exchange for his 28 per cent shareholding in Austria’s Strabag, one of the largest construction companies in Europe. 

Deripaska’s stake in Strabag — held through his company Rasperia — was frozen last year by the EU in response to what the bloc said was his complicity in Russia’s brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. 

“In pursuing this transaction, RBI has diligently abided by and will continue to diligently abide by all sanction requirements,” the bank said in a statement. 

It noted that closing of the acquisition was subject to conditions including regulatory approval and “satisfactory completion of the sanctions compliance due diligence by RBI”.

Deripaska did not respond to a request for comment.

RBI’s Russian subsidiary will transfer Rasperia’s holding in Strabag to its parent company via a dividend in kind, the bank added. That will require the subsidiary securing special approval from the Kremlin. 

RBI has raked in vast profits since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, thanks to its position as the biggest European lender remaining in Russia. 

In the first nine months of this year, more than half of the bank’s profits came from its Russian division. The bank is one of the biggest lenders in central and eastern Europe.

Read full report: https://www.ft.com/content/a9f5045a-6856-4b2e-9fda-e6c96bf49e04