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to unfavourable geopolitical conditions. “Given the current geopolitical situation such a change... is the most appropriate way to continue servicing our Russian and global clients,” VTB said.
Russia's second-largest state bank VTB borrowed up to RUB546bn ($8bn) in short-term secured lending at an expensive rate of 8.25%, Vedomosti d aily reported on September 17, citing unnamed sources. VTB was responsible for a spike in short-term loans issued by the Central Bank of Russia on September 6-7 from RUB9.9bn to RUB546bn, which had the analysts wonder why the bank would need so much, and such expensive, funding.
The supervisory board of Russia's second-largest bank VTB approved the acquisition of private bank Vozrozhdenie , Vedomosti d aily reported on September 25 citing the state-controlled bank. Reportedly VTB is set to acquire 9.6% of Vozrozhdenie's preferred shares and 14.9% of ordinary shares for an undisclosed amount, if the deal is approved by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). Previous reports showed that in September VTB was prepared to buy a controlling stake of at least 75% in Vozrozhdenie that belongs to the former owners of the nationalised Promsvyazbank (PSB) Dmitri and Alexei Ananyevs. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) took over one of the largest Russian private banks PSB in 2017, and ordered the Ananyevs to bring their controlling stakes in another bank, Vozrozhdenie, to below 10%. Later the VTB was approached by the CBR as a possible buyer. However, the acquisition of Vozrozhdenie has been said to be derailed by London court arresting Ananyevs assets in a case initiated by wealthy PSB clients that had invested in securities issued by the bank. It is not clear whether the legal proceedings in the UK are no longer an obstacle for the deal.
The hole in the capital of the failed bank Yugra is twice what the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) thought at first , or about RUB143bn, according to the regulator. According to the results of the survey of the provisional administration, the liabilities are about RUB199.3bn, assets about RUB56.3bn. previously the CBR said as of September 8, 2017 the hole was RUB86.1bn. Central Bank increased the hole in the capital of Yugra 12 times and since July 10, 2017, the Central Bank has introduced a temporary administration in the person of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) as well as introduced a moratorium on the satisfaction of creditors' claims. Since July 28, 2017, the regulator revoked the license from Yugra. The collapse of this bank became the largest insurance event in the history of Russia with payments to depositors of about RUB173bn.
Russia's Rosbank and Deltacredit banks will merge by mid-2019, the banks said on September 20. Both banks are part of Société Générale group in Russia, along with Rusfinans Bank. Deltacredit will be merged with the retail business of Rosbank and will keep its team. The banks hopes to boost the mortgage portfolio and cross-sales as a result of the deal. The merged bank could come close to Russia's top 10 largest in terms of assets with RUB1 trillion worth of assets post-merge, or about 15% above current Rosbank level, the analysts surveyed by Vedomosti d aily estimated. The analysts see the merge as reasonable given high existing degree of integration between the two banks, but doubt that serious cost benefits will be achieved.
One of the shareholders of Russian insurance major Ingosstrakh Pavel
71 RUSSIA Country Report October 2018 www.intellinews.com