With the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Strabag’s business ties with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska have become problematic. After pressure from the company, he now wants to transfer his share in the company to the Russian Illiadis.
This concerns the 24.1 percent company shares that Deripaska until recently held in Strabag through MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited. Under his plan, almost a quarter of the company will now go to the Russian subsidiary of Raiffeisen International (RBI).
The question is whether the Russians will take power
Strabag announced this in a broadcast on Wednesday. No further details are known yet. According to the company, it remains to be seen whether Illiadis will be able to acquire the stake as planned. Strabag cannot therefore estimate whether the transfer will have consequences for the purchase plans of Raiffeisen Russia.
In any case, the construction company itself continues to regard the share package as sanctioned. “In particular, no sanctions review can take place at this time, so the company continues to assume that the Strabag shares of MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited have been frozen in accordance with the EU Sanctions Regulation,” the company wrote on Wednesday.
Possible price: 1.5 billion euros
However, the transfer could be a first step for RBI to significantly reduce its exposure to Russia. In December 2023, the bank announced its intention to acquire Strabag’s Deripaska share through its Russian subsidiary Raiffeisen Russia.
The possible purchase price for Deripaska’s share package at the time was 1.5 billion euros. For comparison, Raiffeisen’s Russian equity amounted to 4.45 billion euros at the end of 2023.
Shares could come to Vienna via circuitous routes
According to RBI, Raiffeisen Russia should then transfer the share package in the form of a dividend in kind to the parent company in Vienna. The RBI would then hold the share through an investment company whose director is entrepreneur Stephan Zöchling. Zöchling is co-owner of the Styrian exhaust specialist Remus and is said to have worked for Deripaska, according to media reports.
Last week, the RBI said in a statement that it had carefully assessed all applicable sanctions before announcing the transaction in December.
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.
