VTB-Otkritie merger best option for their development - central banker

MOSCOW. July 14 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is considering selling Otkritie Group to state bank VTB , as it believes their merger is the best available option, CBR first deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said.

"We are now considering selling Otkritie Group to VTB Bank. The group that combines the bank, nongovernmental pension fund Otkritie, Rosgosstrakh and a number of other companies. We would like to do a market appraisal of the value of this business, for which professional appraisers will be hired," Chistyukhin said in an interview with business daily Vedomosti published on Thursday.

"We're proceeding from the conditions in which we operate. The market that exists today is the market that we're considering. Yes, probably, to some degree the total value of the business could have changed. But it seems to us that to provide the best possibilities for the development of the banking business of both Otkritie Group and VTB Group their merger would be best," Chistyukhin said.

The CBR acquired Otkritie FC Bank in 2017 after bailing it out using a new process involving the specially created Banking Sector Consolidation Fund. The bank received a capital injection of 456 billion rubles from the CBR, which hoped to recover some of this money by selling Otkritie's shares and through the courts.

After the imposition of sanctions against Russia's largest banks, the authorities decided to merge Otkritie into VTB. Crimea's largest bank RNCB will also enter VTB Group's orbit as a separate legal entity.

The CBR intends to sell Otkritie at a market valuation, and options for the sale are now being discussed, Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said in June.