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Italy's foreign minister worried by seizure of UniCredit possessions in Russia

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani revealed issue at a conference on Monday about a. Russian court's decision to seize securities, accounts and. property amounting to 5% of bank UniCredit's assets in. the nation.

The meeting brought together representatives from UniCredit. and different Italian ministries, in addition to of Italian business. with operations in Russia.

We want to protect in every possible way the interests of. our companies still operating in Russia, Tajani said in a. statement.

After Austria's Raiffeisen, UniCredit is the. European bank with the greatest presence in Russia. Both face. mounting pressure from euro zone managers to cut their. company there.

On Friday UniCredit's Russian arm was hit by the seizure of. assets worth 463 million euros ($ 503 million) in relation to an. aborted gas task for which the banking group had provided. warranties.

UniCredit is anticipated to appeal the decision. It had. formerly attempted a jurisdictional defence which the Russian. court turned down.

Last month the Russian subsidiary of Italian water heating. business Ariston was put under the temporary. management of an entity owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom. following a decree by President Vladimir Putin.

Tajani said he was stressed by a 2nd instance of a Russian. choice striking the assets and home of an Italian company,. and would call similar meetings each time the scenario in. Russia required cooperation between institutions and companies.

Our goal is to listen, help, assist and protect the. interests of Italian business to guarantee they can continue. operating, Tajani said, without providing additional details.

In addition to UniCredit's, the arbitration court in St. Petersburg has likewise taken assets of Deutsche Bank. and Commerzbank in a case brought by RusChemAlliance,. a joint endeavor 50% owned by Gazprom.

Western sanctions against Russia set off by the Ukraine. war have actually stopped German contractor Linde from. finishing works to build a plant for RusChemAlliance and the. job's guarantor banks from satisfying the Russian company's. payment claims.

(source: Reuters)