Raiffeisenbank said there is no “specific threat” of sanctions from the United States

The Austrian Raiffeisenbank called false the information that the United States is threatening to impose sanctions against it for continuing to work in RUSSIA. The US Treasury has made it clear that it will introduce restrictions for violation of sanctions, the bank clarified.

The Austrian banking group Raiffeisenbank International (RBI), the parent structure of the Russian Raiffeisenbank, called the EUobserver publication false information that the US Treasury Department threatened the Austrian Raiffeisenbank with sanctions for continuing to operate in Russia. An RBI representative told RBC about this.

“Media reports about a specific threat of sanctions against the RBI from the US Treasury are false. Media reports that the US Treasury has leveled allegations of violation or evasion of sanctions against RBI are also false,” an RBI official said. He explained that the US Treasury “made it clear” that those financial institutions that violate or circumvent anti-Russian sanctions may be excluded from the US financial system.

The RBI spokesperson also denied media reports that RBI board members were summoned to Washington by the US Treasury Department. He explained that RBI board members met in Vienna with senior US Treasury official Anna Morris, who deals with illicit money flows, and exchanged views on anti-Russian sanctions with numerous financial institutions and authorities. “Such negotiations have been held regularly since the start of the war in Ukraine . In addition, at the initiative of the RBI, an exchange at the expert level took place with the US Department of Treasury in Washington,” the RBI representative emphasized.

Earlier, EUobserver reported that the US Treasury warned the RBI that it risks being “cut off from the US financial system.” According to the publication, Anna Morris visited Vienna to notify the Austrian authorities and bank management about the US position. EUobserver cited a US Treasury press release that said Anna Morris was traveling to Vienna as part of an education campaign about a new body created in late 2023 to impose sanctions on foreign companies for helping Russia circumvent defense restrictions. Morris was also supposed to discuss with the RBI its activities in Russia.

“The purpose of the new authority is, in part, to create increased risks for banks and incentivize them to take steps to protect themselves from trade associated with the Russian military-industrial complex or risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system. Morris will discuss this new authority with the Austrian financial sector to encourage them to assess exposure to this type of activity that is of concern and take appropriate mitigation measures,” it said.

In March 2022, the RBI said that in light of events in Ukraine it was considering a “carefully considered exit” from Russia as an option for the future. Until then, the group’s banks will work taking into account existing sanctions, market requirements and their own code, said CEO Johann Strobl. Currently, the bank continues to operate in Russia. Leaving the Russian market is much more difficult than one might imagine, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper in September.

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EUobserver, in particular, drew attention to the bank’s participation in incentives for lending to Russian military personnel. Raiffeisenbank, like other credit organizations, is required by law to provide financial benefits for participants in a special military operation in Ukraine. Such benefits, for example, include credit holidays for mobilized, contract soldiers and volunteers, as well as for the families of mobilized people, or registration of a military mortgage.