The Petersburg court also ordered the confiscation of UniCredit assets amounting to 462.7 million euros. The orders were issued on Thursday at the request of the Russian company RusChemAllianz, a subsidiary of the gas company Gazprom.
RusChemAllianz, together with the German company Linde, planned to build a liquid gas plant in Ust-Luga near St. Petersburg. However, after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Linde withdrew from the project. RusChemAllianz then sued the two banks that had guaranteed the project and that were unable to meet their obligations due to Western sanctions against Russia.
Deutsche Bank said in Frankfurt am Main that it “remains to be seen how this decision will be implemented by the Russian courts and what consequences this will have for our operations in Russia.” The financial institution therefore sees itself “fully protected by a compensation agreement with a customer”. In addition, Deutsche Bank recorded a provision of around 260 million euros and a corresponding asset from reimbursements as part of the compensation agreement.
UniCredit, one of the European banks most heavily exposed to Russia before the Ukraine war, said in a statement that it was aware of the Russian court’s decision to confiscate its assets in Russia. This must now be examined “in detail”.
yb/cp