Sberbank, Yandex JV to create 3–4 projects, may float them

LONDON, Dec 14 (PRIME) -- A joint venture between Russia’s top bank Sberbank and Internet giant Yandex will create three or four projects that may be floated, Sberbank First Deputy CEO Lev Khasis said on Thursday during a presentation of the bank’s strategy until 2020.

On Wednesday, Sberbank and Yandex said they signed a binding agreement to create the joint venture on the base of Yandex.Market.

“Our agreement with Yandex says that both Sberbank and Yandex will have the right to initiate public offerings during the next five years,” Khasis said.

“The issue is whether we have a strategy within which we will sell something, or we don’t decrease our share and remain a shareholder of a public company and reflect the fair cost of the market asset in our books. The issue is still open. I think it will happen after 2020,” he said.

“In general, we think that we will have at least three or four projects, which will be significant to the degree of deserving a separate potential IPO, and we will define whether we want to hold it or not each time during preparations for these events.”

The majority of these projects are long-term and the bank does not plan to sell its stakes in them soon, he added.

He also said that the agreement encompasses attraction of an additional partner with experience in the industry in 12–18 months. “It may be a Russian company, it may be an international company, including a Chinese firm. You know that China doesn’t have only Alibaba, they have at least one more large company,” he said.

“We will continue negotiations and we will reach an agreement with someone,” but there are no definite forecasts, he said.

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