Page 45 - RUSRptAug18

daily reported on July 13 citing unnamed sources. Kassir’s earnings stood at RUB1.3bn ($200mn) in 2017. Tinkoff Bank is a part of the TCS group and is the major player on Russia's retail lending market, and also runs the country’s leading online bank.
Russian oil major SurgutNefteGas (Surgut) is looking to sell its subsidiary insurance division , Vedomosti daily reported on July 24 citing unnamed sources in the company. Surgut is often said to be the only Russian company with no debt and is notorious for its cash pile, which grew by 3% quarter-on-quarter as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 to RUB2.2 trillion ($38.4bn), consisting of cash and cash equivalents, including short- and long-term cash deposits. Reportedly the company has been trying to sell its insurance division for the past 18 months. One of the prospective buyers was Sogaz insurer, which recently announced a merger with VTB Bank to create the largest player on the market . Analysts surveyed by Vedomosti believe that the insurance division is becoming increasingly obsolete for Surgut, posting declining premium collections and shrinking profits, while demanding too many resources amid tightening regulations in the sector.
State rail transportation monopoly Russian Railways ( RZD ) plans to sell its Blagosostoyanie pension fund , Reuters said on July 20 citing unnamed banking and corporate sources. This is in line with previous reports claiming that RZD is shedding its financial assets , such as its leasing subsidiary Transfin-M and Absolut Bank, both controlled by Blagosostoyanie. Reportedly a 51-75% stake in the Non-State Pension Fund Blagosostoyanie (NPFB) could also be sold. Among the possible buyers of the second-largest non-state pension fund with RUB380bn ($6bn) of savings are structures affiliated with Gazprom natural gas major, according to Reuters. In the meantime on July 19 Fitch Ratings has downgraded Absolut Bank's long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to 'B-' from 'B+' and placed the bank's ratings on Rating Watch Evolving (RWE).
Russian banking brothers and former owners of bailed Promsvyazbank (PSB) Dmitri and Alexei Ananyev had $15.6mn and €11mn worth of assets arrested by the High Court of Justice in London in the case initiated by wealthy PSB clients that invested in securities issued by the bank, Vedomosti daily reported on July 17 citing a Myddleton Communications press release.
Russia's state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) has started shedding non-core assets , which include two malls in Moscow, a hotel in Sochi, other real estate assets and metals assets in the Czech Republic. The move is in line with attempts to revamp VEB from a failing development institution into a major hub in President's Vladimir Putin's spending drive.
A Serbian company whose sole founder is the Russian investor and banker Andrеy Shlyakhovоy has become the owner of 100% of VTB Banka a.d. Beograd , the former subsidiary of Russia’s second-biggest lender VTB, VTB Bank a.d. Beograd announced on July 26. VTB decided to sell its Serbian subsidiary earlier in July. It said at the time it was selling 100% of the bank's ordinary shares (7,344,813 shares) with a par value of RSD500 each. The Belgrade-based unit of Bank of Moscow started operations with corporate clients in 2008 and launched its retail business in 2009 when its first branch office in Serbia was opened. The bank was rebranded VTB Banka in September 2013. The bank mainly cooperates with Russian companies to
45 RUSSIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com