11 Mar 2022 16:48

Russian Central Bank suspends preparations to sell Otkritie Bank

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has suspended preparations to sell FC Otkritie Bank , and intends to provide information about resuming preparations later, the regulator said in a statement.

Otkritie is in the list of systemically important credit institutions, and the CBR owns it. The regulator planned to sell Otkritie shares in 2022, and had jointly looked into various options for the deal with investment consultants, including an IPO and selling to a strategic investor.

The Unites States, the European Union, and Great Britain included Otkritie and other major Russian banks in their respective sanctions blocking lists in February 2022. Otkritie will be disconnected from SWIFT on March 12.