NACP suspended the war sponsor status for the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank. Why is this important?

The National Agency for the Corruption Prevention has suspended the war sponsor status for the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank.

The day before, EUobserver wrote that Austria is blocking the signing of a new package of European Union sanctions against Russia, as it demands the exclusion of Raiffeisen Bank International from the Ukrainian list of "International War Sponsors" from the NACP.

The status was suspended for the period of bilateral consultations involving representatives of the European Commission.

Raiffeisen is the only Austrian company on the NACP list. It should be noted that the list has no legal force, it only informationally increases public pressure on Raiffeisen to leave the Russian Federation.

• Raiffeisen Bank International promised to withdraw from the Russian market after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, but postponed this process. Reuters wrote that such a move is supported by a number of officials who are trying to preserve long-standing ties with Moscow.
• In March 2023, the Raiffeisen Bank International group announced that it would sell or spin off its Russian business. There, they undertook to reduce activity in Russia.