As reported, Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has come under pressure in Ukraine. In the meantime, almost the entire board, including the CEO Johann Strobl, has been put on a list of people recommended for sanctions in Kyiv. In addition to the sanctions recommendations, the RBI is currently also being accused of granting Russian soldiers loan deferrals . The RBI says it is required by law to do so.

In addition to Strobl, CFO Hannes Mösenbacher and Corporate Customers Director Peter Lenkh as well as the two board colleagues Andreas Gschwenter and Lukas Januszewski are also on the list. They all sit on the supervisory board of RBI's Russian subsidiary. Retail banking executive Andrii Stepanenko, who is of Ukrainian descent, is not on the list.

more on the subject
 
DEFERRED LOANS

Criticism after Raiffeisen offer to Russian soldiers

 

 

01/09/2023

 

Raiffeisen International does business in Ukraine and Russia
 
UNCERTAIN FUTURE

RBI writes high profit with Russia business

 

 

08/02/2022

 

TOPIC IMAGE: MERGER RZB AND RBI

The list, dubbed "War and Sanctions," is backed by Ukraine's Foreign Ministry and Ukraine's National Agency for Preventing Corruption (NAZK) and aims to put international pressure on certain individuals and companies linked by Kyiv to Russia's war of aggression or who are believed to support the Russian regime.

The website does not provide specific explanations for the recommendation to sanction Strobl and the other manager, but explains that they are high-ranking individuals in institutions that fund actions that undermine Ukraine's security, sovereignty and independence. Raiffeisen emphasized that no Ukrainian sanctions were currently imposed on members of the Supervisory Board of Raiffeisenbank Russia, writes the "Standard".

Appeal for withdrawal from Russia

The Ukrainian ambassador in Austria, Wassyl Chymynez, emphasized in the APA interview that sanctions would be examined very thoroughly. If it turns out that the Austrian bank has "provided financial benefits" to Russian recruits and indirectly recognized the "fake republics", i.e. the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, then this would also be a "moral problem".

The ambassador pointed out that the recruits in Ukraine "kill and rape" and that Russian money is "tainted with a lot of blood". Chymynez appealed to Austrian companies to reconsider their business with Russia. "It's not too late to make the decision and exit the Russian market."