Western bank sued over suspected financial support for Russia in Ukraine conflict

Czech police announced on September 1 that they are handling a criminal complaint filed by a civil rights group in the country against Austria's Raiffeisenbank, alleging that the bank had financing activities related to Russia.

Nghi ngờ hỗ trợ tài chính cho Nga trong cuộc xung đột Ukraine, một ngân hàng phương Tây bị khởi kiện

Hydra accused Raiffeisenbank branches of cooperating with the bank's Russian subsidiaries, thereby providing financing to an organization linked to Moscow. (Source: Reuters_

Raiffeisenbank, one of the last major Western banks in Russia, is the fourth-largest bank in the Czech Republic with 1.8 million customers in the European Union (EU) member state. The association that filed the lawsuit, Hydra, which is set up to protect the interests of Czech citizens and businesses, said it had filed complaints against Raiffeisenbank's branches in the Czech Republic and Austria in late June.

Hydra alleges that Raiffeisenbank branches have cooperated with the bank's Russian subsidiaries, thereby providing financing to an organization linked to Moscow. The association claims that Russia is using tax money paid by Raiffeisenbank to finance the conflict in Ukraine, arguing that the bank, which has branches in Russia that generate profits, partly contributing in the form of taxes to the Russian budget, is "a terrorist organization".

"It makes no sense for the Czech government to provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but at the same time ignore banks that finance Russia," Libor Malecek, chairman of the association, stressed.

Prague police said they had received a complaint from Hydra, while the association said it had filed a complaint with authorities in Austria and Europe. It is also calling for the creation of an international investigation team, including from the United States, which has launched an investigation into the bank's activities in Russia.

Raiffeisenbank's annual report shows that the bank made 2 billion euros in net profit and paid 560 million euros in income tax in Russia in 2022.

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