Sberbank to sell Ukrainian branch to Latvia’s Norvik Banka

MOSCOW, Mar 28 (PRIME) -- Russia’s top bank Sberbank will sell 100% in its Ukrainian affiliate to a consortium comprising Latvia’s Norvik Banka and a private Belarusian company until the end of June, Sberbank said in a statement late on Monday without disclosing the sum of the deal.

The bank and the consortium signed a legally binding document on Monday to close the deal after approval of financial and antimonopoly regulators of corresponding jurisdictions, including Ukraine and Latvia, the bank said.

The sped-up sale will lead lesser contributions to the affiliate’s capital, which will be reflected in Sberbank’s financial report calculated under Russian Accounting Standards, but the impact of the deal on financial results calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards will be insignificant. The bank also hopes that the sale will remove Ukrainian nationalists who block the affiliate’s offices, Sberbank said.

Norvik Banka said separately that Said Gutseriyev, a son of Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev, became the major shareholder of the consortium.

Norvik Banka believes that Sberbank’s developed network in Ukraine and professionalism of its staff will become a reliable basis for long-term development initiatives. The bank also thinks that the Ukrainian economy has passed the lowest point of its crisis, and believes in the future economic growth in the country, the bank said citing Board Chairman Oliver Bramwell.

Norvik Banka had planned measures aimed at decreasing its presence in Russia, the bank said. The bank’s local affiliate was ranked Russia’s 183rd largest bank by assets as of February 1.

According to Norvik Banka, the affiliate of Sberbank is Ukraine’s sixth largest bank by assets. It has more than 150 branches in the country with almost 1 million clients.

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