By John O’Donnell
FRANKFURT/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Austria is seeking to have Raiffeisen Bank International, the biggest Western bank in Russia, struck off a Ukrainian blacklist in return for signing off on fresh European Union sanctions on Russia, said two people familiar with the situation.
Austria and the bank wants to be taken off a Ukrainian list dubbed “international sponsors of war” – which sets out to shame companies doing business in Russia and supporting the war effort by, for instance, paying taxes.
The latest push underscores Austria’s deep economic bond with Russia, the bank’s determination to keep its profitable business there, as well as a fading wider Western drive to isolate Moscow.
Earlier in October, Austria’s foreign minister, Alexander Schallenberg, openly criticised that blacklist as arbitrary at a meeting of European ministers in Kyiv, said one person briefed on those discussions.
Raiffeisen is the only Austrian company on the list.
Austrian officials have flagged their concern about the list in Brussels with European officials, including at meetings of EU officials and diplomats in recent weeks, said three people with knowledge of the matter.
Bank envoys met representatives of Ukraine’s National Agency of Corruption Prevention, which draws up the list, to discuss how to get the group off it, people familiar with the matter said.
A spokesperson for the Austrian chancellery said that legal documents concerning the EU sanctions had been presented on Tuesday, declining to comment further.
Some companies have been taken off the list, including Hungary’s OTP Bank, a move that irked Austrian officials and the bank.
“We find it unfair that we are on the list,” said a spokesperson for the bank.
(Additional reporting by Julia Payne; writing By John O’Donnell; editing by David Evans)
