Ukraine’s National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) declares Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International to be a sponsor of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NAPC included Raiffeisen Bank in the list of international sponsors of Russia’s war against Ukraine due to the fact that the Austrian bank officially recognized the independence of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” and “Donetsk People’s Republic,” the Russian-occupied quasi-states in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Apart from that, Raiffeisen Bank remains one of the few European banks that continue to work in the Russian Federation, despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, Raiffeisen Bank paid 559 million euros to the budget of the Russian Federation in taxes, which is enough to buy around 90 cruise missiles Kalibr that Russian forces launch against Ukrainian cities targeting civilians and critical infrastructure.
Raiffeisen Bank has been working in Russia since 1996 and remains one of the systemically important banks to the Russian economy that struggles with sanctions that were imposed upon Russia for its unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
There are no direct legal consequences for the companies that were included in the list of international war sponsors. However, there might be significant reputational losses for being a part of the war sponsors’ list, according to NAPC.
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