Brussels/Vienna (APA) – Austria’s Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker from the conservative ÖVP has continued to demand a “reasonable and fair solution” for the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) in connection with the new EU sanctions against Russia. “It would be surprising if we were to place a European company, a company from Europe, from Austria, in a worse position than a Russian oligarch in Putin’s sphere of influence,” Stocker said on Thursday upon his arrival at the EU summit in Brussels.
For him, it is incomprehensible that sanctions intended to exert pressure on Russia for peace negotiations with Ukraine would advantage a Russian oligarch twice, once through a monetary payment and another time by allowing him to retain shares. “That cannot be the point,” Stocker said.
The background is the demand from the RBI that sanctions-frozen shares of the Austrian construction company Strabag, worth around two billion euros, which are currently owned by the Russian company Rasperia, should be released so that they can be transferred to Raiffeisen.
“Many questions remain” regarding Russian assets
Regarding the use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine, there are currently “many questions still open,” Stocker said. “We need a viable legal framework.” The risks also need to be weighed. There are concerns, especially in Belgium. “As far as the RBI is concerned, I have this concern as the Austrian Federal Chancellor, that perhaps this question has not yet been assessed and considered in all dimensions.”
Stocker welcomed the recent US sanctions against the Russian oil industry. “It is a step to bring Putin to the negotiating table,” said the Chancellor. It has been seen that previous steps have not been sufficient to bring about a change of heart in Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for serious peace negotiations.
Austria’s demands for an exemption for the Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) were not supported by any of the other EU countries. However, Austria did not want to block the sanctions package against Russia “in the interest of the greater good” due to the RBI demands, as was stated in diplomatic circles ahead of the summit. (23.10.2025)
