BERLIN (Reuters) -The European Union is looking at lifting sanctions on assets linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to compensate Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International for damages it was ordered to pay in Russia, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Provisions to unfreeze shares valued at some 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in Austrian construction company Strabag, previously part-owned by Deripaska, are included in the latest draft of the EU’s Russia sanctions package, the report said, citing seven sources.
The assets would be transferred to Raiffeisen, which was fined that amount by a Russian court after a lawsuit brought by Deripaska’s former company Rasperia.
Several EU member states are expected to object to the move, initially proposed by Austria, at a meeting of ambassadors on Friday, the FT also said.
Raiffeisen declined to comment. The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CONCERNS ABOUT BOLSTERING RUSSIAN COURTS
The FT said some European officials were worried the move could legitimise Russian courts that are retaliating against EU sanctions by ordering the confiscation of Western assets, and could encourage other oligarchs to also take this approach.
The shares have remained frozen under EU sanctions since 2022, when Deripaska was accused of supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex following the invasion of Ukraine.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Raiffeisen, which is the largest Western lender operating in Russia and serves as a key financial bridge to the West, failed in another attempt to sell a stake in its Russian business.
Russian officials opposed the sale, fearing that if it went to a domestic buyer that might trigger further sanctions against the lender, according to a source.
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(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru and Kirsti Knolle in Berlin; Additional reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
