Gazprom might reconsider sale of Gazprombank stake in 2-3 yrs
ST. PETERSBURG. Dec 26 (Interfax) - Gazprom might return to the issue of selling its stake in Gazprombank (GPB) in two or three years, the lender's chief executive, Andrei Akimov told Interfax.
"It will be possible to talk about this in two-three years," Akimov said, remarking that due to the conversion of GPB debt into shares there is no reason for Gazprom to sell its stake in the bank.
Furthermore, now is not the most favorable time to sell shares in the bank, he added.
"Now is not the best time. Why sell? The bank earns well. If subordinated loans will be converted into equity, then [Gazprom's] stake will decrease a little - from 41% to 30%, preliminarily," Akimov said.
Gazprom has repeatedly said it plans to reduce its stake in GPB to a blocking interest. The gas giant now owns 41.73% of the bank.
Gazprombank's principal shareholder is Lider, the management company of the Gazfond private pension fund. Lider is part of the Sogaz insurance group controlled by the Rossiya Bank, the principal beneficiaries of which are Yury Kovalchuk, Nikolai Shamalov, Dmitry Gorelov, Gennady Timchenko and Alexei Mordashov.
It was reported earlier that Gazprom's stake in GPB would decrease to about 35.54% as a result of the debt-to-shares conversion, which will give Vnesheconombank (VEB) a 10.2% stake in the bank.
Gazprombank was Russia's third largest lender by assets at the end of the third quarter of 2011, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the country's banks.