Judicial tile in Russia for Unicredit, but also for some German banks. The Court arbitration of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region has placed under seizure accounts and properties of the Italian bank worth almost 463 million. This was reported by the Russian agency Tass and the Russian News Agency Interfax.
The decision was made on instance of the Ruskhimalyans, a liquid gas production company owned by Gazprom, as part of a dispute initiated in August 2023 against UniCredit. In particular, the project concerned the construction of a complex of gas treatment and liquefaction in Ust-Luga.
The measure decided by the St. Petersburg court concerns Unicredit Russia e Unicredit Ag, the German bank of the group that controls the Russian branch. Among the assets seized there are securities, real estate and funds, including investments in UniCredit Leasing Llc e UniCredit Guarantor.
Unicredit shares are holding up on the stock market
At mid-morning, Unicredit shares are holding (-0,1%) on the stock market, and are indeed confirmed at the highest levels for around 13 years, above the euro 36, after the Russia case which does not seem to worry investors and analysts who are however attentive to the moves of banking groups in the area. Prices are stable against a weak sector in Italy like in Europe.
Russian measures also against Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank
After the stop imposed by international sanctions, Unicredit and the other banks refused to pay the bank guarantees linked to the project, thus leading to open conflict with the Gazprom subsidiary. Similar measures were also taken against other institutions involved in the initiative, namely the German ones Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Bayerische Landesbank e Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg. In particular, assets worth 210 and 7,5 million euros were seized from Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank respectively.
The Court partially granted the Rukhimallians' request to adopt provisional measures in the case against Unicredit. Previously, Ruskhimalliance had filed a lawsuit against Unicredit Bank as part of claims for bank guarantees under a contract with Linde.
Unicredit's comment
The bank "has been informed of the recent developments in the litigation pending in the Russian court between RusKhimAlyans against Unicredit GmbH and Ao Unicredit Bank, called into question by the plaintiff. The precautionary measure concerns only certain assets sufficient to satisfy the plaintiff's claims in the event of victory, and therefore does not affect Uc Ao Bank in its entirety. The matter will be subject to further analysis and carefully monitored", concludes the bank.
Orcel's progressive disengagement from Russia
The news is part of a progressive disengagement of Unicredit from Russia, also in the wake of the ECB diktats to exit the country. Last May 7, during the presentation of the first quarter accounts, Andrea Orcell, CEO of the Piazza Gae Aulenti institute, underlined that "as far as I know, every single bank in Europe that has exposure to Russia of any size has received the letter" with which the ECB asks to reduce exposure to Moscow . At the same time, the banker specified that UniCredit's cross-border exposure to Russia it dropped 91% in two years and local presence of 67%. “Our strategy is to continue to do this in an orderly and accelerated manner,” she explained. In this way "cross border exposure will be eliminated in the next 12-15 months and the local bank will be significantly smaller".
Also interested in the judicial matter in Moscow is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which in the next ad hoc table activated by the minister Antonio Tajani with companies and institutions engaged in the Russian market, will examine the case.
The ECB's spotlight on the commitments of European banks in Russia
The story is intertwined with the recent requests received from the ECB which continues to put pressure on the institutes active in the country. The supervisory authority “urges the banks to accelerate the exit from Russia, given the increase in reputational, legal and financial risk,” the former manager explained Andrea Enrico in one of his latest releases last year. In recent weeks, financial sources have reported that Frankfurt is ready to ask the group led by Andrea Orcel to reduce activities with the country. The requests addressed to Unicredit would be similar to those that the Supervisory Authority addressed toAustrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the Western bank that has the largest presence in Moscow.
