Austria backs EU sanctions package after Raiffeisen suspended by Ukraine from war sponsor list

Austria supported the EU's 12th sanction package against Russia after Ukraine suspended the inclusion of the Raiffeisen Bank in the war sponsors list, Reuters reported on Dec. 16, citing an EU diplomat.

Media reports emerged ahead of the Dec. 14-15 European Council summit that Vienna is delaying the newest package in an effort to remove the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) from Kyiv's blacklist.

Despite the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the RBI, Austria's second-largest bank lender, has continued to operate in Russia.

The bank has long-standing ties with Russia and is only one of only two foreign banks classified as "systemically important" by the Russian central bank.

Czechia opened an investigation of the RBI in August over its ongoing business activities in Russia after the Czech Association for the Rights of Citizens and Entrepreneurs highlighted that Raiffeisen's Russia-based companies had paid up to $720 million from their profits to the Russian state budget in taxes.

The Bank continues to operate in Russia.