Belarus’ VP Capital wants to buy Sberbank's Ukrainian unit

MINSK/MOSCOW, Jul 3 (PRIME) -- Investment company VP Capital wants to buy Belarus’ Paritetbank to buy the Ukrainian unit of Russia’s top bank Sberbank, VP Capital owner Viktor Prokopenya told PRIME late on June 30.

In March, Sberbank said it sold the Ukrainian affiliate to a consortium of Latvia’s Norvik Banka and a Belarusian private company, and expects the deal to be closed until the end of June. Norvik Banka said later that the majority owner of the consortium is Said Gutseriyev, a son of tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev.

Sberbank submitted relevant documents to the Ukrainian central bank in April, and the regulator is to study the deal within three months after submission.

“I can confirm that we are discussing the purchase of all shares in Paritetbank owned by Belarus, and the purchase of Sberbank Ukraine by Paritetbank. We’ve submitted all necessary documents to the corresponding regulators to carry out the deals,” Prokopenya said. “Deals will succeed only if all necessary coordination is received.”

He said he did not plan to buy the bank together with Said Gutseriyev.

A banking source familiar with the matter told PRIME that Sberbank received several new and attractive offers for the Ukrainian affiliate, and the bank is now in negotiations with several investors looking for the best conditions.

“The announcement of the deal with Said Gutseriyev and Grigory Guselnikov triggered the maximum interest in the asset. Since then, Sberbank has received several new and interesting sale offers and it is now in several negotiation processes seeking the most profitable conditions,” the source said.

A Sberbank representative declined to comment. “Sberbank has legal obligations to partners that prohibit any comment before the deal is done,” the representative said.

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