Support The Moscow Times!

Russia Seizes Deutsche Bank, UniCredit Assets

A UniCredit Bank office in Moscow Sergei Fadeichev / TASS

A Russian court has ruled that Deutsche Bank and UniCredit's assets in Russia are to be seized, documents showed.

European banks have largely exited Russia after Moscow launched its offensive on Kyiv in 2022.

A court in St. Petersburg ruled in favor of seizing 239 million euros ($260 million) from Deutsche Bank, documents dated May 16 showed.

The same day, it ordered the seizure of around 463 million euros ($504 million) worth of assets belonging to Italy's UniCredit.

Both decisions were issued in answer to a request from RusKhimAlians, which was planning to build a major gas processing and liquefaction plant in cooperation with German company Linde, which pulled out of the project due to Russia's military assault.

RusKhimAlians sued UniCredit and Deutsche Bank — both guarantors of the project.

UniCredit was one of the European banks most exposed to Russia when Moscow started its 2022 campaign in Ukraine, with a large local subsidiary operating in the country.

It began preliminary discussions on a sale last year, but the talks haven't advanced.

Chief executive Andrea Orcel said UniCredit wants to leave Russia, but said that gifting an operation worth 3 billion euros was not a good way to respect the spirit of Western sanctions on Moscow over the war.

Nevertheless, UniCredit has gradually reduced its exposure to Russia and managed to increase the ratio of its capital to risk-weighted assets to 16% from 15% last year.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more