Sanctions against Russia not to affect VTB Azerbaijan - senior VP
BAKU. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The West's sanctions against Russia will not affect the activities of VTB's subsidiary in Azerbaijan, VTB Senior Vice President Mikhail Yakunin told Interfax.
"The sanctions imposed against Russian banks will not affect VTB's operations in Azerbaijan since they concern only the possibility of receiving financing on American and European equity markets. VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) does not use this financing tool in its activities. Clients of VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) will not sense any changes in the bank's work because of sanctions, and the bank will continue providing its full range of services and meeting its obligations in full," he said.
Azerbaijan's banking market is one of the most stable and fastest growing markets in the CIS, Yakunin added.
"In the existing macroeconomic situation of the post-Soviet space, Azerbaijan's GDP growth figures are very good. Particular attention can be paid to the fact that the economy is developing not only because of the oil sector - its portion of GDP has been on the decline recently. This is a serious positive factor. Growth for the banking sector is around 10%, [and] there are fairly stable currency exchange rates. This all creates favorable conditions for taking part in the banking business here," he said.
Azerbaijan's Central Bank issued OJSC VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) a banking license in March 2009. The bank's shareholders are VTB (51%), the AtaHolding group (48.99%) and individual shareholders (0.01%).