Russian lender Sberbank agrees to sale of Kazakh subsidiary
RUSSIA’S largest lender Sberbank has agreed to sell its Kazakh subsidiary to Kazakh state-owned financial holding Baiterek, the bank said on Tuesday(Aug 23) without disclosing financial details.
“Sberbank has made the decision to withdraw from the Kazakh market based on the current geopolitical situation and acting in the interests of the subsidiary bank’s clients,” Sberbank said.
After Russia sent troops into Ukraine, the United States imposed sanctions in April on Sberbank, which has more than 110 million customers and holds a third of Russia’s total banking assets. The European Union imposed its own measures in May.
Sberbank’s Kazakh subsidiary was until recently the second-biggest bank by assets in the former Soviet republic that has close economic and political ties with Moscow.
Majority state-owned Sberbank provided US$2.51 billion in loans to its Kazakh unit as customers withdrew cash and drained liquidity after what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine prompted sanctions.
Sources told Reuters in May that Sberbank expected the buyer of the Kazakh subsidiary to ensure it repays those loans, the value of which is now much greater than that of the Kazakh unit.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it could help Baiterek boost the former Sberbank unit’s capital after the takeover. REUTERS
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