Bank Rossiya acquires stake in Telcrest
MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax) - Bank Rossiya directly owns 10.46% of Cyprus-based Telcrest, which has blocking stake in CTC Media, according to the Dun & Bradstreet database and a statement published on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) website.
Telcrest became a Bank Rossiya affiliate in June of 2012. It has still not been reported that the bank, controlling 86.4% of Telcrest through its subsidiaries, itself owns stake in the company.
National Media Group, of which Bank Rossiya is also a co-owner, had 7.7% stake in the company as of April 4. The group previously had 18.16% stake, meaning the group's stake also decreased by 10.46%.
D&B's information does not say when this took place. SEC information for November of last year, where the size of IK Abros's stake was disclosed, mentioned the bank, but did not specify the company's direct stake. Abros is a Rossiya subsidiary.
National Media Group's press service has not responded to Interfax's request for information.
The stake owned by other Telcrest shareholders did not change, though the 26.7% owned by LLC Mediaset, which joined with LLC IK Abros in 2012 and was then liquidated now belongs to Abros. Both companies are also Bank Rossiya associates.
The stake owned by Abit Holding, which is also considered to be a Rossiya associate, did not change and totals 13.62%.
Itera Media, according to the Dun & Bradstreet database, owns a 27.88% voting stake in Telcrest Investments. The remaining 13.62% is owned by Surgutneftegas .
According to Dun & Bradstreet, Telcrest was registered in Cyprus on April 14, 2011, and the company's charter capital consists of $110,131 divided into 29,431 ordinary class 'A' shares and 80,700 ordinary class 'B' shares.
In 2011, Telcrest purchased blocking stake in CTC Media from Alfa-Group for $1.07 billion. Sweden's Modern Times Group (MTG) is CTC's largest shareholder with 38.2% stake.
Rossiya Bank, which controls CTC Media shareholder Telcrest Investments Limited, and bank beneficiary Kovalchuk are on the sanctions list that the U.S. Treasury Department announced in March due to events in Ukraine. The sanctions do not affect CTC Media, according to the Treasury Department. A "50% rule" exists, under which only an organization in which a specified individual or entity owns 50% or more interest is subject to sanctions.