Russia’s Gazprombank explores options for Swiss business, including sale

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprombank is discovering strategic alternatives for its Swiss enterprise, which includes a attainable sale of all or elements of it, Zurich-centered Gazprombank Switzerland said on Friday.

Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) is one of the past remaining channels for funding trade flows among Russia and Switzerland mainly because the other main Russian banks are issue to sanctions more than Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Its Swiss business enterprise, which employs about 80 people, is largely active in trade and export funding, which include assisting Swiss industrial groups finance exports to Eastern Europe. It also finances the extraction, transportation and processing of raw elements from Russia to Western Europe for commodity traders.

“The Financial institution presently expects to conclude the strategic evaluate method – which include getting an investor if these types of selection is pursued – by the end of the third quarter of 2022,” it mentioned.

Based on fairness of about 200 million Swiss francs, the lender could be valued at all over 150 million Swiss francs ($154 million), a single market resource, who declined to be named, mentioned.

Feasible buyers for parts or all of Gazprombank could be money buyers or other banking companies, a Gazprombank Switzerland spokesperson stated, declining to remark on a valuation.

Commodity traders could also be intrigued in Gazprombank Switzerland, the industry supply advised Reuters, and the initial probable consumers have currently expressed fascination.

“It is the obligation of the Board of Administrators to often review the strategic orientation of a financial institution and to realign the business enterprise model if important,” the spokesperson reported when asked regardless of whether current or probable international sanctions had brought on the strategic review.

Requested about any doable affect from the Swiss Economic Marketplace Supervisory Authority FINMA, the financial institution spokesperson said: “The initiated approach review is in the bank’s have desire and not thanks to exterior stress.”

Gazprombank Switzerland was strongly capitalised and operationally perfectly positioned, the spokesperson additional.

According to the latest publicly obtainable information, Gazprombank Switzerland made a income of 3 million francs in the 1st fifty percent of 2021, down from 4 million in the 12 months-ago time period.

Gazprombank is not the only Swiss subsidiary of a significant Russian bank that could quickly adjust fingers.

FINMA has eased the limitations towards Sberbank (Switzerland) AG (SBER.MM). This would permit the lender to cut down its harmony sheet in see of a feasible sale or adjust of possession, the watchdog stated this month. browse more

($1 = .9744 Swiss francs)

Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Writing by Michael Shields, Editing by Paul Carrel and Alexander Smith

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