The European Union (EU) will consider unfreezing Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska's €2 billion stake in construction company Strabag for transfer to Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, the Financial Times reported, citing its sources.
Raiffeisen said in July that the Russian unit's contribution to the results of the entire banking group Raiffeisen Bank International had been significantly affected by a Russian court ruling awarding damages to Rasperia Trading Limited. In May, the Central Bank of Russia withdrew the equivalent of €1.87 billion from the account of the Austrian bank's Russian subsidiary and transferred it to Rasperia. According to Financial Times sources, the unfreezing and transfer of Deripaska's assets to Austria's Raiffeisen Bank will be carried out to “compensate“ this decision of the Russian court.
The provision proposed by Austria to unfreeze Deripaska's assets has already been included in the EU's draft sanctions against Russia.