Creation of Postal-Bank still on agenda, Russia ready for its privatization in the future - Kudrin
MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) - The creation of a Postal-Bank is still on the agenda, Russian Deputy Prime Minsiter and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at a banking conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
"We, nonetheless, believe it necessary to create this bank," he said.
Setting up postal infrastructure is necessary so that "a payment system is formed, especially for those regions where there aren't enough [financial] services," he said.
Kudrin added that the state is ready to reduce its stake in the Postal Bank to below that of a control stake in the future. "The state stake will go below 50% plus one share after three years," he said.
Kudrin added that the government is ready to reduce its stake in state banks. The three-year privatization program fixes the state packet at 50% plus one share. After this period, the state stakes will be further reduced, he said.
The Russian government plans to review the development strategy for the banking sector at a meeting on Thursday, Kudrin said.
The fate of Postal-Bank is been under discussion for less than a year. The decision for its creation has been repeatedly moved.
The idea for Postal-Bank sees it as a subsidiary of VEB formed jointly with Sviaz-Bank and Russia Post. At the same time, VEB plans to bring in a financial partner (either Russian Standard Bank and Nomos-Bank ).
Auditor KPMG estimated Russia Post's financial operations at 80 billion-100 billion rubles. VEB chief Vladimir Dmitriyev earlier said that this estimate has changed the perceptions of potential banks partners about their involvement in the project.
