Romanian private pension funds still have EUR 80 mln placed with US-sanctioned bank IIB

The Romanian private pension funds currently see blocked their placements worth some RON 440 mln (EUR 80 mln) in bonds issued by the International Investment Bank (IIB), according to estimates of Newsweek.ro.

The Romanian state exited the shareholding of this bank last week, but the Romanian pension funds have not yet recovered the money invested. The recovery of over EUR 25 mln invested by the Romanian state in the capital of the bank is a different process, with uncertain outcomes.

The US decided on April 12, 2023, to include this bank on the sanctions list for posing a risk of espionage of the EU and NATO states by Russia. Previously, other European institutions had included the IIB on the sanctions list.

According to financial market documents consulted by Newsweek Romania, the holdings of 11 private pension funds in IIB bonds had a total value of RON 440 mln as of April 10, 2023. The overwhelming majority of these bonds mature in October 2023, with a small fraction having slightly longer tenures, some of them until 2025.

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