PRESS: Russia’s Bazhayev to raise stake in FPB Bank to 90%

MOSCOW, Aug 19 (PRIME) -- Russian businessman Musa Bazhayev, the minority shareholder of Finprombank, or FPB Bank, plans to raise his stake in the bank to 90% for its bailout, Kommersant business daily reported on Friday.

The bank’s clients have recently complained about delays in making payments and refusals to replenish deposits, while the bank explained the problems by a change of software and technical malfunction.

Sources familiar with the situation at the bank told Kommersant that the central bank is currently holding an unscheduled probe into the bank and FPB Bank could probably need to replenish its reserves. A spokesperson for Alliance Group, Bazhayev’s largest asset, confirmed the examination by the regulator.

In accordance with amendments to the law on bankruptcy set to take effect on September 1, a bank can be bailed out with funds of current shareholders. This form of a bailout will not require allocation of funds by the government.

“We have prepared a financial bailout program which we have already submitted to the central bank,” the spokesperson for Alliance Group said.

A capital boost for FPB Bank can amount to up to 20 billion rubles, Kommersant said.

The current shareholders already boosted the bank’s capital by 12.3 billion rubles earlier this year and are ready to support the bank in the future, the spokesperson also said.

(63.5487 rubles – U.S. $1)

End