VTB launching oil trading for its major Russian clients
MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - VTB Group is launching a new oil trading business at the bank, which is aimed at large Russian industrial enterprises, a statement from the bank says.
VTB plans to provide a full range of services that oil traders usually provide - financing of oil product inventories, provision of temporary credit leverage for the purchase of goods, as well as logistics and shipmemt of goods to a location specified by the client.
In addition, VTB Group will create reserves of petroleum products and ensure their storage. Own reserves will make it possible to provide customers with petroleum products in the shortest possible time, as they will eliminate the time needed for purchasing them on an exchange or from a manufacturer, the statement says.
"The significant structural transformation of the Russian economy and its main industries implies changes in working with our large clients, opening up new niches and demand for new services. In particular, we are seeing significant changes in the functional organization of oil trading in Russia. A local market is emerging, and Russian companies have started to provide the functions of intermediary traders that were previously performed by Western companies," Head of the Corporate and Investment Business Unit at VTB, Vitaly Sergeychuk said during the VTB "Russia Calling!" investment forum.
The accumulated expertise of VTB Group in working in commodity markets, a client base that includes the largest industrial enterprises, and the ability to provide financing on optimal terms - all this serves as the basis for the launch of a new direction for the group, namely oil trading, he said
Sergeychuk said that there is now a great demand in the market for services such as these, and increased competition in this segment will give impetus to its further development, the expansion of the line of products and services, new solutions that meet market trends and new business challenges.
VTB Group works with all classes of petroleum products; the main demand from large clients is for diesel fuel, the report says. The geography of this new business includes all the main facilities for industrial production and transportation of petroleum products in Russia.
In the fall of 2023, VTB Group became a member of the St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, which opens up opportunities for the bank to actively participate in the trading and purchase of petroleum products; VTB expects to close its first deal by the end of the year, the statement said.