By Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich
(Reuters) -Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska's 1.5 billion euro ($1.62 billion) stake in Austria's Strabag has been transferred to another firm registered in Russia whose ownership is unclear, the Vienna-based building company said on Wednesday.
The deal is the latest twist in a contested attempt by Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International to unlock the stake.
Raiffeisen, the biggest Western bank in Russia, has been trying to buy the roughly 24% stake in Strabag, billing the complex deal as a means of freeing up some of its billions stranded in Russia.
But it has come under U.S. pressure to drop the plan because of the involvement of Deripaska, who is under Western sanctions.
On Wednesday, Strabag said Rasperia Trading Limited, which it has described as controlled by Deripaska, would transfer its stake in Strabag to Iliadis JSC.
Strabag added that it could not identify the people behind Iliadis. It has previously asked Austrian authorities to examine the matter and said it believes the stake is frozen by European Union sanctions.
"An examination of the conformity with sanctions cannot be carried out, so that the company is working on the assumption that Strabag shares owned by MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited are frozen by EU sanctions," it said in a statement.
Strabag said Deripaska had informed it of the change.
A spokesperson for Deripaska said: "Oleg Deripaska has had no relationship with this company (Rasperia) for a long time and does not see the point in commenting."
Raiffeisen declined to comment.
The move further clouds the bank's proposed deal.
Strabag said it was unable to assess whether Iliadis's acquisition would have any impact on the Raiffeisen deal, which would be routed via Russia and count among the biggest Western deals in the country since the start of the Ukraine war.
Senior U.S. Treasury officials have underscored their concerns in meetings with the bank and Austrian authorities, people with direct knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.
U.S. government officials, who believe that Deripaska will benefit from the sale, have demanded the bank provide details about the individuals and companies involved in the arrangement, the people said.
Russian company filings show that Iliadis was registered as a company on July 12, 2023. Reuters could not determine its owner.
However, the Interfax news agency's SPARK database of Russian companies shows Iliadis owns a capital investment company called Atmosfera, registered on Feb. 29, 2024, in Ust-Labinsk, the town in Russia's Krasnodar region where Deripaska spent much of his childhood.
Iliadis owns 99% of Atmosfera, with the remaining 1% held by Rasperia Trading, the company Deripaska's spokesperson said he no longer had a relationship with.
($1 = 0.9243 euros)