Qiwi warns of potential buyback risks amid loss of Qiwi Bank's license

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - Qiwi may reduce or postpone the repurchase of its shares if the buyer of its Russian assets fails to fulfill its payment obligations due to the revocation of the license from Qiwi Bank, the group said.

Qiwi sold Russian assets consolidated under Qiwi JSC to Hong Kong-based Fusion Factor Fintech Limited at the end of January. The company belongs to former Qiwi chief executive officer Andrei Protopopov. The transaction price was 23.75 billion rubles. Previous reports said that the group would use the funds received from the transaction to develop its international business and buyback shares.

"Given that, as previously announced, the company expects to use proceeds from the transaction to fund the buyback, any potential default by the buyer will have an immediate negative impact on the company's ability to finance the buyback. In the event of a default on payments, the company will be forced to reduce the buyback or delay it until the situation with the collected receivables from the transaction is resolved," the group said in a statement.

The Russian Central Bank revoked the banking license from Qiwi Bank on February 21. The regulator made this decision in connection with the bank's violation of federal laws, including those on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), as well as Central Bank regulations. The Central Bank also identified cases where the bank opened Qiwi wallets using the personal data of individuals without their knowledge and then used them to conduct transactions.