Banks’ association head says banks’ withdrawal to have to effect

MOSCOW, Jul 18 (PRIME) -- The withdrawal of eight large banks, including Sberbank and VTB Bank, from the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) will not hurt the activity of the association, President Garegin Tosunyan told PRIME late on Monday.

“We have hundreds of banks in the association, not just 10 or 20, this is why the withdrawal (of the eight banks) will not have an impact on activity of the association,” Tosunyan said, adding that he was neutral towards a possible creation of a new association.

Sberbank, VTB Bank, VTB 24, Russian Agricultural Bank, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Otkritie Financial Corporation (FC) Bank, and B&N Bank signed a document to withdraw from the ARB because of disagreement with the association’s position on a number of issues, including the central bank’s activities to purge the banking sector.

Alfa-Bank Deputy CEO Vladimir Senin told PRIME that some banks are discussing creation of a new association similar to the ARB.

Vasily Pozdyshev, a deputy chairman of the central bank, said in an interview to Rossiya 24 television channel that the authority was worried by the event.

“The Bank of Russia is anxiously tracking the development of the conflict. It is concerned about the results of it. Still, the regulator…is not a participant of any association by its nature, and it cannot interfere in any heated discussions between banks and management of associations. Moreover, I think it would be incorrect to even give any comments on the matter,” he said.

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