CEO: Raiffeisenbank expects Russian unit to earn large profit 2016

VIENNA, Mar 16 (PRIME) -- Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) expects that its Russian subsidiary will earn a significant profit in 2016, RBI’s CEO Karl Sevelda told reporters on Wednesday.

The Russia-based branch bank had excellent financial performance in 2015 in spite of difficulties, he said. The net profit of the subsidiary tripled on the year to 24.853 billion rubles in 2015, as calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

“We also expect a significant profit in 2016,” Sevelda said.

Russia’s Raiffeisenbank is likely to decrease risk-weighted assets (RWA) by 20% by the end of 2017 against December 2014.

In March 2015, Raiffeisenbank said it would halt car lending and suspend operations in a range of large Russian cities.

Raiffeisen Bank International operates in 15 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

PRIVATIZATION: NO PLANS TO BUY

RBI has no plans to buy Russian assets for privatization, but is likely to provide funding to investors in them, Sevelda said.

“As for participation in the privatization program, funding of your companies – yes, but I believe that we will not participate independently,” he said.

The Russian government plans to sell stakes in a range of state-run companies in order to increase budget revenues this year. The companies for privatization may include national oil major Rosneft, oil producer Bashneft, diamond mining giant ALROSA and some other companies.

(70.5408 rubles – U.S. $1)

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