VTB not planning to reduce stake in Vietnam-Russia joint bank, will develop it - CEO Kostin

HANOI. Jan 14 (Interfax) - VTB is not planning to reduce its stake in the Vietnam-Russia Joint Bank (VRB) for now, and will gradually develop it, VTB President and Board Chairman Andrei Kostin told reporters.

VTB and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) founded VRB. The founders owned equal shares of 50% of the authorized charter capital each until recently. Vietnam's NGS Telecommunication and Equipment company entered the bank's capital, receiving 1%, in December 2024. The shares of VTB and BIDV respectively decreased to 49.5% each.

Kostin said that VTB is not yet planning to reduce its stake in VRB.

"We will develop it little by little. It currently services practically the entire volume of trade in dong and rubles, which is 40% of export-import operations. We will continue to increase it. Our loan portfolio is more than half a billion, about $520 million. Corporate loans are a little more, retail loans a little less. That is why we will operate like this now. They simply reduced our share below 50%. The Vietnamese adopted special legislation for this, so we are grateful to them. That is how we will operate," Kostin said.