A Russian court has blocked any potential sale of Raiffeisen Bank International’s subsidiary in Russia, a move that traps the largest western lender still operating inside the country.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Vienna-headquartered RBI said a temporary injunction issued by a judge in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast had put a freeze on the transfer of any ownership of shares in its Russian arm.
It is unclear how long the order will last. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 16. The injunction relates to a civil case brought by companies associated with the oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and a $2.2bn claim for “non-fulfilment of financial obligations”.