The Czech Republic has launched an investigation into Raiffeisen International for its activities in Russia. The reason for this was a complaint from human rights activists. The country’s National Counterterrorism Center is now scrutinizing the bank’s activities.
Despite all the criticism in the course of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Raiffeisen has not yet managed to jump out of Russia. As its Czech ORF counterpart “Ceska Televize” now reports, the civil and business rights association has now filed a criminal complaint against the bank.
Suspected of supporting “terrorism”.
It is suspected of supporting “terrorism” because, according to activists, remaining in the Russian market would help finance the war. “Unfortunately, the profits go to the budget of the Russian state in the form of income taxes, which they use to finance the aggression against Ukraine,” the author of the related petition, Ladislav Pelcl, told the TV channel.
“The idea of paying with the same credit card as – figuratively speaking – a supplier of military equipment to the Russian army is unbearable for us,” said Pelcl, who is a customer of the bank.
filed a criminal complaint
In the first half of the year, RBI reported nine percent growth in Russia. Libor Malecek, the author of the indictment, points this out. “How is it possible that we suddenly see on the accounts that they are spending hundreds of millions on terrorism to support the military?”
The Association for Civil and Business Rights has therefore filed criminal charges against the entire banking group for allegedly supporting terrorism. “We are currently investigating, but given the course of this investigation, no further information can be given,” confirmed Ondřej Moravčík, a spokesman for the police station.
RBI “reduces” activities in Russia
However, the bank defends itself by saying that it is already winding down its activities in Russia. “We are determined to further scale down our business activities in Russia (…) The group is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the bank in Russia, where more than 9,000 people work,” the bank said around June.
“In general, our customers understand the situation, also with reference to the detailed and extensive analyzes published mainly in foreign media, reflecting the activities of the RBI Group, which allow for a possible withdrawal from the Russian market,” said spokeswoman Martina Kotasova. for the Raiffeisenbank for Czech radio. In any case, the Czech subsidiary Raiffeisen is only active in the Czech Republic itself.
Ukraine has Raiffeisen on the red list
RBI has also landed on the red list in Kiev – it is specifically classified as an “international sponsor of the war”. The European Central Bank is also pushing for the group’s withdrawal from Russia, while the US sanctions agency is investigating the group’s activities. The bank wants to spin off its Russian activities by the end of this year.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
