Promsvyazbank says works as usual amid possible bailout reports

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Promsvyazbank, 10th largest by assets as of November 1, continues to provide services to clients as usual and asks to pay no attention to media reports about its bailout, a call center specialist told PRIME on Friday.

Business daily Kommersant reported earlier on Friday citing sources familiar with the situation that the central bank decided to appoint an interim administration at Promsvyazbank. The decision was made on Thursday and the launch of bailout procedures at the bank is not ruled out, the daily reported.

The Promsvyazbank call center specialist said: “You should pay no attention to articles, you can open a deposit or order products of the bank which you need anytime.”

According to Kommersant, Vozrozhdenie Bank will not enter the scope of bailout procedures and is likely to be sold to an investor. The majority owners of the bank decided earlier in 2017 not to merge with Promsvyazbank.

The beneficiary owners of Promsvyazbank, Dmitry and Alexei Ananyev, will probably lose a right to own large stakes in banks and occupy high-ranking positions in them, Kommersant reported.

Business daily Vedomosti reported on Thursday that the central bank demanded that Promsvyazbank raise reserves by about 130 billion rubles. Promsvyazbank denied the report and said that the information concerned a check by the central bank completed in May and that a final report has not been confirmed yet.

In August, Alfa Capital analyst Sergei Gavrilov warned clients of the company about problems at Otkritie Financial Corporation (FC) Bank, B&N Bank, Promsvyazbank, and Credit Bank of Moscow. Since then, the central bank has launched financial recovery procedures at Otkritie FC Bank and B&N Bank.

(58.7082 rubles – U.S. $1)

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