Baltic Leasing bidding to buy Rosgosstrakh, there are 1-2 more potential buyers - VTB head

SOCHI. Sept 25 (Interfax) - The company Baltic Leasing is bidding to buy Rosgosstrakh, and there are one to two more potential buyers, the head of VTB Andrei Kostin told journalists on the sidelines of the International Banking Forum.

Previously, in early September, Kostin said that the deal to sell Rosgosstrakh had stalled due to difficulties with its financing.

"Baltic Leasing is one of the candidates. Whether it will happen or not, I don't know. They will either come with an offer or not," Kostin said on Thursday.

One to two more bidders have appeared for the asset, he said. If the deal does not go through, VTB will keep the company within the group's perimeter, "because there is a need for mass insurance," he said. "Life is like that, it's constantly dynamic," he said.

At the end of August, VTB First Deputy President Dmitry Pyanov told journalists: "We are entering the final month for the Rosgosstrakh deal. September will determine whether Rosgosstrakh remains part of VTB Group or is sold to an external counterparty."

"The potential candidate for buying RGS is not SOGAZ and is not Sudarikov's structures [Sergei Sudarikov, considered one of the largest beneficiaries of Region Group]. It is not these counterparties with whom we are negotiating the sale of Rosgosstrakh; they were not bidders to participate in the deal and did not participate in the due diligence," Pyanov said.