There are applications for sale of foreign banks' subsidiaries, though not for major players - Russian deputy finance minister
MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - Several foreign players are negotiating the sale of their respective subsidiary banks in Russia, though there are no applications for large credit institutions, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told reporters in the State Duma.
"I see only those applications that the administration [of the Russian president, whose permission is necessary for the transactions,] sends to us for consideration. Whether it sends us all or not, I do not know. There are a couple applications, though nothing special," Moiseyev said.
Moiseyev participates in the operations of the subcommittee of the government commission on foreign investment that considers the applications for certain transactions involving non-residents from "unfriendly" jurisdictions, which current regulation prohibits, and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov heads the commission.
President Vladimir Putin at the end of October approved the list of credit institutions from which "unfriendly" non-residents are permitted to withdraw capital only upon having obtained special permission. The list contains 45 positions in total, including particularly the subsidiaries of the main foreign players on the Russian banking market, as well as the entities of the leaders in the IT and e-commerce sectors, including Yandex , VK , and Ozon .
Permission to sell one bank from the list has already been received. Indeed, Avtovaz will buy BARN B.V., through which UniCredit Bank owns a 40% stake, France's Renault owns a 30% stake, and Japan's Nissan owns a 30% stake, respectively, in RN Bank.
A deal is currently being completed in order to sell another of the automaker's banking subsidiaries, though there has not yet been any presidential approval obtained for the transaction. Mercedes at the end of October officially announced its exit from Russia and its intention to sell shares in its local subsidiaries, including Mercedes-Benz Bank Rus, to Avtodom.
A number of foreign banks that own subsidiaries in Russia have announced a review of the prospects for their respective Russian business. Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International said that it was considering a sale, as well as other options for Raiffeisenbank. Italy's UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, respectively, also plan to exit the Russian market by selling their respective subsidiary banks.
Additionally, there was information in the summer about the conclusion of an agreement by Britain's HSBC for the sale of 100% of the Russian HSBC Bank subsidiary to Expobank. However, Russian regulators quickly said that they had not received any applications regarding this.