Austrian bank takes centre stage as EU pushes new sanctions on Russia

Austrian bank takes centre stage as EU pushes new sanctions on Russia

Raiffeisen is seeking to offset €2.1 billion in damages imposed by a Russian court. As a solution, Austria has proposed to unfreeze the assets of a sanctioned Russian company. But the plan has proven controversial.

Profits of doom. Will the EU breach its own sanctions to compensate an Austrian bank fined €2 billion in Russia? — Novaya Gazeta Europe

Vienna has requested that the European Union transfer frozen assets associated with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank to compensate it for a €2-billion fine levied on it by a Russian court. If Brussels agrees, it will set a dangerous precedent and embolden the Kremlin to seize the assets of foreign companies operating in Russia unless other Western sanctions on Moscow are lifted.