Subsidiary of Russia's VTB to continue operations in Kazakhstan

NUR-SULTAN. Sept 1 (Interfax) - VTB Bank has decided to continue its operations on the market of Kazakhstan, the chairman of the country's financial market regulator, Madina Abylkasymova said.

"Despite the fact that [VTB Bank] has also been included in the sanctions list, it is continuing operations in national currency. These operations are not prohibited under the restrictions imposed by countries that imposed sanctions," Abylkasymova told reporters outside parliament on Thursday.

"Furthermore, the bank has been recapitalized with an additional 5 billion rubles, so we as the regulator are making sure that the bank fully meets all necessary statutory ratios," she said.

It was reported earlier that Russian state bank VTB had recapitalized its subsidiary bank in Kazakhstan. "The bank will use the received funds to increase its capital, which will help it meet the necessary statutory ratios and continue to develop its business in the country," VTB (Kazakhstan) said.

The Kazakh authorities said that Russia's VTB, which was hit by U.S. blocking sanctions in March, was looking for an investor for VTB (Kazakhstan), but VTB head Andrei Kostin said recently that the group planned to maintain its banking business in the Central Asian country.

"We are staying [in Kazakhstan and a number of other countries] and promoting cooperation with national banks, with local banks in order to be the key bank for settlements in bilateral trade in national currencies. We see potential for our business in these countries," Kostin said.

VTB (Kazakhstan) was the 18th largest bank by assets among Kazakhstan's 22 banks as of July 1, 2022, according to the country's National Bank.