PRAGUE, August 29. /TASS/. The Czech national antiterrorism center has launched an investigation into Raiffeisen Bank over the Austrian group’s operations in Russia, the CT24 TV channel reported.

According to the TV channel, the investigation began following the appeal of the Association for the Rights of Citizens and Entrepreneurs. The initiator of the appeal and a representative of the organization, Ladislav Pelzl, believes that the bank makes huge profits thanks to its activities in Russia, which brings money to the Russian budget thanks to income tax, the TV channel reports.

"Currently, we are engaged in it (an investigation - TASS), but we cannot provide any additional information about the progress of this investigation," a representative of the police presidium told CT24.

Raiffeisen Bank has been operating in Russia since 1996 and is a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, one of the largest Austrian banking groups. In March of this year, Austrian Minister for European and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said that the RBI should independently decide on the possibility of continuing to work in Russia under Western sanctions. He noted that many Western states and companies use the services of Raiffeisen to finance activities in Russia.