MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court on Thursday rejected Raiffeisen Bank International’s appeal against the freezing of shares in its local arm, as part of a lawsuit brought by Russian investment company Rasperia, court filings showed.
Rasperia is seeking around $2 billion in compensation after RBI dropped a bid for Rasperia’s frozen stake in Vienna-based construction group Strabag after coming under intense pressure from Washington.
The Russian court’s freezing of RBI’s shares in Raiffeisenbank has blocked the biggest Western bank in Russia from leaving and is frustrating Western efforts to force RBI to sever ties with Moscow.
Rasperia is now demanding that the courts force through the stake’s sale to Raiffeisen’s Russian unit, Raiffeisenbank, the Vedomosti daily reported in October, citing lawyers and case materials.
A judge ruled in September that the case would be heard behind closed doors. On Thursday, filings showed that the St. Petersburg court had rejected an appeal to have interim measures that froze RBI’s shares in Raiffeisenbank lifted.
RBI and Rasperia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Rasperia claims that its Strabag shares have become worthless, accusing Strabag, through compliance with EU sanctions, of acting to the detriment of Rasperia and seeking 1.9 billion euros ($2.01 billion) in damages, Strabag said in September.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 25.
($1 = 0.9473 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow in London and Elena Fabrichnaya in Moscow; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
