The article discusses the recent court ruling that froze the shares of Raiffeisen’s Russian division, delaying its sale. The deal was part of RBI’s efforts to exit Russia and would have been paid for using trapped profits in the country. However, pressure from the U.S. forced RBI to abandon the deal in May, leading to a legal challenge by Rasperia Trading, a company formerly owned by Deripaska. The timing of the court ruling raised questions about whether the lawsuit was strategically used to lower the price of the RBI sale, similar to previous cases involving asset devaluation tactics.
The decision to abandon the deal came after the U.S. flagged it as a potential violation of sanctions, and Austrian authorities demanded that RBI abandon the transaction. This move was significant as it would have allowed RBI to enjoy some of the profits made by its Russian operations even if they were subsequently sold at a reduced price. The legal challenges that followed the decision to abandon the deal have led to speculation that they may be part of a broader tactic to devalue the asset, similar to previous cases such as the sale of Volkswagen’s Russian assets. This suggests a strategic approach to influence the sale price of the RBI division in Russia.
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