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Matthias Knab, Opalesque: Grizzly Research, the activist short seller, published a lengthy report on Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), the Vienna-listed group whose Russian subsidiary, AO Raiffeisenbank, is the largest Western bank still operating in Russia. The report alleges that the Russian unit has become a channel for sanctions circumvention while RBI tells investors it is winding the business down, and argues that shareholders are not being given a clear picture of how much of the group's cash and earnings are locked inside Russia.
At RBI's closing price of €62.70 on 15 September, Grizzly puts the stock at roughly 1.01 times June 30 book value and 8.4 times forecast 2026 earnings, a discount to peers that the firm says only looks attractive if the reported numbers hold.
$1.19bn in customs records
Grizzly says it analysed Russian customs records, mainly covering 2022 to early 2025, obtained from a commercial database. It identified 25,085 consolidated entries worth about $1.75bn whose contract references carry 3292, Raiffeisenbank's Bank of Russia registration number. By Grizzly's screening, entries worth $1.191bn involved goods covered by EU, U.S., U.K. or Swiss restrictions in force on the recorded dates, including $106.75m of items on the Common High Priority List, the goods Western governments regard as most critical to Russia's war effort.
Examples cited include CNC lathes and machining centres imported by Alf...................... To view our full article Click here
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