Source: Tycoon Gutseriyev’s son may buy 55% in Sberbank Ukraine

MINSK, Mar 28 (PRIME) -- Said Gutseriyev, a son of Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriyev, plans to buy 55% in Russian top bank Sberbank’s affiliate in Ukraine through a Belarusian company, while Latvia’s Norvik Banka will purchase 45%, a source familiar with details of the deal told PRIME on Tuesday.

On Monday, Sberbank said it will sell 100% in its Ukrainian affiliate to a consortium comprising Norvik Banka and a private Belarusian company until the end of June for an undisclosed sum.

The source said that investors had valued the asset at U.S. $600–700 million before Kiev introduced sanctions against units of Russian state banks. The source did not rule out that the valuation could have been slashed due to the sanctions and the speed of the deal.

But Ukrainian News Agency reported that the National Bank of Ukraine had not received an official notification and documents necessary for approval of the deal. A central bank representative said that a decision will be made within the framework of current regulations and legislation.

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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