Raiffeisen Bank partners with firms supplying weapons to the Russian military, according to Bloomberg.

Raiffeisen Bank International's Russian branch collaborates with companies that supply the Russian military.

Source. This is reported by the agency Bloomberg.

Raiffeisen is the largest Western bank still operating in Russia. Rather than completely exiting the Russian market, the bank announced in July 2024 that it would "significantly" reduce its operations in the country.

Over the past year, Raiffeisen in Russia has earned more than $620,000 in profits from servicing the Russian chemical company Unichim, which is not under sanctions but supplies components for military equipment production to sanctioned companies, Bloomberg reports.

Raiffeisen Bank has collaborated with Unichim by using accounts in sanctioned banks such as Sberbank, VTB, "Soledarnost", and others.

Unichim also supplied acids to the Russian company "Ravenstvo", which is under sanctions. These were then used to manufacture multiple launch rocket systems and aerial bombs.

"Ravenstvo", primarily involved in developing radar systems, is a subsidiary of the sanctioned Russian conglomerate "Granite-Electron", a producer of key components for missile systems. The company has partnered with the Proletarsky Shipbuilding Plant, which is part of Russia's largest shipbuilding enterprise, the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Raiffeisen Bank has also been involved in transactions for TotalElectro, a cable supplier for the Smolensk Aviation Plant, Bloomberg reports.

The bank likely has other clients contributing to supplies for the Russian defense industry, Bloomberg adds.

Previously in September, a Russian court issued a preliminary ruling to prohibit the transfer of Raiffeisen shares.

"This complicates the sale process and will inevitably lead to further delays" in Raiffeisen's exit from Russia, the company stated.

In 2023, Raiffeisen Bank's Russian branch earned over $1 billion in the first three quarters, accounting for about 50% of the group's total profit. The bank also paid 277 million euros in taxes to Russia during the same period, the media adds.

Background. It is worth noting that a Russian court fined Raiffeisen Bank 2.1 billion euros for its activities in Russia. The Austrian bank plans to appeal the court's decision, which imposed a record fine for frozen banking assets in Russia.