Sanctioned Russian oligarch finally sells stake in Strabag
27 March 2024
Sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska has now sold his stake in Austrian construction group Strabag, the company has confirmed.
Deripaska owned a significant stake in the company via MKAO Rasperia Trading. Originally, it held a 27.8% stake although Strabag froze Rasperia’s shares after Deripaska was sanctioned in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Last year, Strabag cut Rasperia’s stake in the company to below 25% to reduce the risks and detrimental effects on the company’s business activities.
Now MKAO Rasperia has transferred its 24.1% in the Austrian construction group to Iliadis JSC, within Deripaska relinquishing his previous control. Nonetheless, the shares remain frozen.
In a statement, Strabag said, “The company has no further information regarding the transaction that has now been completed as announced in the major holdings notifications. It is therefore currently not possible to carry out a sanctions review, so that the company continues to assume that the Strabag shares held by MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited remain frozen in accordance with the EU Sanctions Regulations.”
It added that it was not able to assess whether the completion of the transaction in Russia would have any impact on the intended acquisition of these Strabag shares by Raiffeisen Bank International, a move that the company was also notified of in December 2023. “The company has not received any notification from Raiffeisen Bank International AG regarding the execution of this transaction,” Strabag said.
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