The Ukrainian government no longer classifies Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) as an international supporter of Russia’s war of aggression. The previous status was ‘suspended’, the Ukrainian National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NASK) announced on its website on Saturday evening. Observers suspected a link with the recent EU decisions to support Ukraine.
“The status is suspended for the period of bilateral consultations involving representatives of the European Commission,” the agency said. The article containing the allegations against the RBI was no longer available. In a largely symbolic move, the RBI was added to Ukraine’s “list of international terrorist supporters” in the spring.
Did Nehammer intervene?
The reason given was the bank’s activities in Russia and the official recognition of the so-called “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk by the Russian subsidiary RBI. Moreover, reference was made to RBI’s lack of steps to divest its Russian operations.
In the run-up to the decision on the twelfth EU sanctions package against Russia, EU diplomats reported that the Austrian federal government had lobbied for the RBI. This has not been officially confirmed. At the EU summit, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) denied that there was a connection.
The summit’s decision on the sanctions package was taken with Austria’s agreement, he said Friday afternoon. “The sanctions have therefore been accepted. The RBI was absolutely not a topic in the Council of Heads of Government yesterday.”
The twelfth sanctions package is coming
The chancellor explained the “review reservation” that Austria had made against the twelfth sanctions package, saying that the latest version was only handed over on Thursday. A council spokeswoman said on Friday that Austria had withdrawn this “review reservation” and agreed with the conclusions. This paved the way for a formal decision by EU ministers.
According to an insider, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg openly criticized the list drawn up by the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Authority as “arbitrary” during a ministerial meeting in Kiev. The government has also raised its concerns in conversations with EU representatives and diplomats in recent weeks. Representatives of the RBI met with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities. Recently, the Hungarian OTP Bank, among others, was removed from the list.
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.
