Raiffeisen Bank International AG has taken the first step in a series of deals to repatriate capital from Russia. This began with the transfer of shares in an Austrian construction company owned by sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Strabag SE confirmed that Deripaska had transferred his 24.1% share stake, frozen by European sanctions, to Russian company Iliadis JSC. The proposed deal, if approved, has the potential to clear US concerns over sanctions compliance. Raiffeisen’s Russian unit would buy the Strabag shares from Iliadis and transfer them to its Austrian parent as a dividend in kind. The move marks the first stage of a complex sequence of transactions aiming to repatriate capital stranded in Russia. This decision comes despite ongoing tensions and sanctions between Russia and the West.