this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2025
91 points (97.9% liked)

Europe

2124 readers
929 users here now

News and information from Europe 🇪🇺

(Current banner: La Mancha, Spain. Feel free to post submissions for banner images.)

Rules (2024-08-30)

  1. This is an English-language community. Comments should be in English. Posts can link to non-English news sources when providing a full-text translation in the post description. Automated translations are fine, as long as they don't overly distort the content.
  2. No links to misinformation or commercial advertising. When you post outdated/historic articles, add the year of publication to the post title. Infographics must include a source and a year of creation; if possible, also provide a link to the source.
  3. Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. Don't post direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments. Don't troll nor incite hatred. Don't look for novel argumentation strategies at Wikipedia's List of fallacies.
  4. No bigotry, sexism, racism, antisemitism, dehumanization of minorities, or glorification of National Socialism.
  5. Be the signal, not the noise: Strive to post insightful comments. Add "/s" when you're being sarcastic (and don't use it to break rule no. 3).
  6. If you link to paywalled information, please provide also a link to a freely available archived version. Alternatively, try to find a different source.
  7. Light-hearted content, memes, and posts about your European everyday belong in !yurop@lemm.ee. (They're cool, you should subscribe there too!)
  8. Don't evade bans. If we notice ban evasion, that will result in a permanent ban for all the accounts we can associate with you.
  9. No posts linking to speculative reporting about ongoing events with unclear backgrounds. Please wait at least 12 hours. (E.g., do not post breathless reporting on an ongoing terror attack.)

(This list may get expanded when necessary.)

We will use some leeway to decide whether to remove a comment.

If need be, there are also bans: 3 days for lighter offenses, 14 days for bigger offenses, and permanent bans for people who don't show any willingness to participate productively. If we think the ban reason is obvious, we may not specifically write to you.

If you want to protest a removal or ban, feel free to write privately to the mods: @federalreverse@feddit.org, @poVoq@slrpnk.net, or @anzo@programming.dev.

founded 7 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Original article (requires registration).

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) maintains client relationships with companies supplying the Russian defence sector, revealing previously unknown dimensions of the bank’s involvement in Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.

Bloomberg’s investigation shows that Raiffeisen’s Russian subsidiary earned more than $600,000 last year from providing payment and foreign exchange services to companies producing materials for Russian arms manufacturers. One such company, Russian chemical manufacturer Unichim, received payments into a Raiffeisen account after supplying acids for use in missile systems to a sanctioned company with close ties to the Russian navy.

Raiffeisen Bank International has repeatedly stated that it seeks to exit Russia and that its Russian unit has “implemented monitoring and screening tools to comply with… all applicable sanctions”. Bloomberg’s findings, however, underscore that the operational risks for companies still doing business in Russia have become nearly impossible to avoid. After reporting a drop in its annual profits for the first time in nine years following a US$ 2bn asset grab by a Russian court, RBI may now also find itself facing compliance-related risks over its client relationships in Russia.

[...]

30 civil society organizations from Ukraine and abroad had previously raised a similar warning in an open letter to RBI’s CEO Johann Strobl in May 2023, cautioning that “Russia has made it next to impossible for foreign businesses to operate in the country without becoming directly complicit in Russia's war efforts”. The open letter did not receive a response.

[...]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] dotslashme@infosec.pub 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Hardly the first instance of a bank violating rules to keep making money. I guess it's going to come down to a little slap on the wrist and then they're going to use a different loophole to keep the money flowing.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

For Austria it goes further than this. ~~Half of Austria is a~~ Austria is infected with a lot of russian influence. Austrian intelligence helped to smuggle the former wirecard ~~CEO~~ CFO and criminal wanted for defrauding billions to Russia.

There was a trap laid for Austrian fascist politicians of the now strongest FPÖ party where they openly discussed funneling government contracts to a fake Russian oligarch in return for buying and controlling mayor media outlets.

A former Austrian Foreign minister had the Russian military fly her ponies to her new residence in Russia, while the Ukraine war was already in full effect.

https://apnews.com/article/austria-spying-scandal-russia-ott-marsalek-wirecard-8921f3ce95b30646ee1952bf8949a43f
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibiza_affair
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66795596

If you made a movie with Austria as the cartoon villian on the inside, people would claim it to be unrealistic.

[–] Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Please be careful when saying things like "half of Austria is a proxy of Russia". We should not pigeonhole half a country.

[Regarding the Wirecard case: You might refer to the former Wirecard CFO Jan Marsalek, who was/is an alleged Russian spy and is now wanted by Western authorities. Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun has been arrested in 2020 with court cases pending.]

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Thak you. I have edited the statements.