Ukraine refuses to remove Raiffeisen from list of war sponsors

This is reported by Reuters, citing a letter sent to Raiffeisen earlier this month.

In the letter, Ukrainian officials questioned whether one of Austria's largest banks was taking steps to withdraw its business from Russia. In particular, “the sale timeline is missing ... it remains unclear when, if at all, a spin-off scenario might come into action".

A Raiffeisen spokesman told the agency that the bank could not name a timeline for its exit from Russia, as it depends on the approval of EU and Austrian regulators.

At the same time, on February 14, Raiffeisen announced that it was negotiating the sale of its Belarusian subsidiary to a buyer from the United Arab Emirates.

Ukrainian officials have also raised concerns about Raiffeisen's programmes to facilitate loans to Russian soldiers. The bank claims that such support is mandatory in Russia.

The letter concluded by saying that the bank's "suspended" status would remain in force, but that Ukraine could remove the bank from its blacklist if it got "positive news".

The list of international sponsors of the war is intended to create reputational pressure so that companies still operating in Russia find it reputationally disadvantageous to cooperate with the aggressor, realise the position of the entire democratic world and close their business in Russia.

Raiffeisen is the only Austrian company on the list of international war sponsors.

• On 30 March 2023, Raiffeisen Bank announced a plan to sell its business in Russia or separate from it.