PSB invests in new project from team of retail industry veterans
MOSCOW. May 15 (Interfax) - Promsvyazbank (PSB) has acquired a stake in Svyaz.ON, a financial services and product retailer that will sell technology products, as well as banking, insurance and legal products and the services of telecom providers online and offline, the state lender's press service told Interfax.
Svyaz.On LLC was registered on May 8, data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) showed. The company has charter capital of 433 million rubles.
PSB owns 39.99% of Svyaz.On through its subsidiary Nonbank Technologies Fund. A 10% stake is owned by the company's CEO Dagmara Ivanova, who previously served as executive director at retailer Svyaznoy and managing director of the M.Video-Eldorado chain, and 50.01% is owned by Avers, a closed-end mutual fund managed by Tetis Capital.
At the initial stage, Svyaz.ON's physical and virtual shelves will carry products and services from various suppliers and providers and offer its own fintech solutions and products.
"We are betting on two mutually complementary components. The first is a broad line of goods, banking and nonbanking products and services from various providers, including on Svyaz.ON's 'endless virtual shelf.' The second is a team of consultants who will help make sense of the consumer features of products and banking services and bring together a comprehensive offer for the client's needs better than other players with a more limited selection. The first categories that we're starting with are home appliances and electronics," Ivanova was quoted as saying by the bank's press service.
PSB Group's products will be represented in Svyaz.ON's stores and on its platform. Under a partnership arrangement, the retailer will accept applications for the bank's payment cards, loans, and deposits, as well as requests for insurance, legal and other services from the broad range of nonbanking services offered by PSB Group.
"Given customers' growing demand for multi-service services, Svyaz.ON will be able to quickly become a popular platform, which will enable the company to scale its presences throughout Russia. As a partner, we have a high regard for the potential of this project and see various areas for expanding our cooperation. Among other things, the new retailer could become another platform for selling PSB Group's broad line of products," PSB vice president and director of nonbanking services development Alexei Nazarov said in a statement.
Commercial director Mikhail Dogadin, who previously served as vice president of Svyaznoy, will be responsible for working with partners in the project. Chief operating officer Igor Gerasimov will build the sales system.
PSB, which is owned by the state through the Federal Property Agency, has been turned into a bank for servicing major government defense and other contracts. PSB was Russia's fifth largest bank by assets at the end of the first quarter of 2024, according to the Interfax-100 ranking.