Lisin sells stake in Zenit Bank to Tatneft exec
MOSCOW. June 19 (Interfax) - Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin's Fletcher Group Holdings has sold its stake in Zenit Bank .
Fletcher's stake in the bank decreased from 5.8% to zero on June 18, and a stake of the same size was acquired by Alexander Tischenko, Zenit said.
"As part of the company's policy to exit non-core assets, a decision has been reached to finally dispose of the stake in the Zenit banking group," a Fletcher Group Holdings representative told Interfax.
Tischenko, who is head of development and corporate support for strategic projects at oil company Tatneft and also serves as senior vice president of Zenit Bank, confirmed to Interfax that he bought the stake in the bank from Fletcher Group Holdings. He did not specify the terms of the deal, citing commercial confidentiality.
"This is my personal initiative and investment. Since I'm responsible at Tatneft for the development of the Zenit banking group, naturally I believe that the group will develop, so I believe it's sensible to personally invest in Zenit shares," Tischenko said.
Tatneft and its subsidiary Tatneft Oil AG own 71% of shares in Zenit Bank, which was Russia's 34th largest bank by assets at the end of the first quarter of 2019, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the country's lenders.
Lisin also owns stakes in his biggest asset, steelmaker NLMK , through Fletcher. Lisin owns 95.74% of Fletcher directly and through Rumelko LLC, and the other 4.26% is owned by Yury Lisin's RiskInvest Holding, according to Zenit disclosures.
A company representing Vladimir Lisin's interests bought 14.4% of Zenit Bank in 2007, but his stake in the lender later decreased.