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

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprombank is exploring strategic selections for its Swiss organization, including a attainable sale of all or parts of it, Zurich-dependent Gazprombank Switzerland explained on Friday.

Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) is 1 of the past remaining channels for financing trade flows concerning Russia and Switzerland for the reason that the other key Russian banking institutions are matter to sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Its Swiss company, which employs about 80 people, is generally energetic in trade and export financing, such as assisting Swiss industrial teams finance exports to Eastern Europe. It also finances the extraction, transportation and processing of uncooked components from Russia to Western Europe for commodity traders.

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“The Bank presently expects to conclude the strategic evaluate procedure – which includes getting an investor if these alternative is pursued – by the end of the third quarter of 2022,” it reported.

Dependent on fairness of about 200 million Swiss francs, the lender could be valued at around 150 million Swiss francs ($154 million), a single field resource, who declined to be named, reported.

Attainable customers for parts or all of Gazprombank could be financial buyers or other banking companies, a Gazprombank Switzerland spokesperson explained, declining to comment on a valuation.

Commodity traders could also be fascinated in Gazprombank Switzerland, the sector source instructed Reuters, and the first possible consumers have already expressed interest.

“It is the accountability of the Board of Directors to on a regular basis evaluate the strategic orientation of a lender and to realign the organization design if required,” the spokesperson explained when asked whether present or potential intercontinental sanctions had triggered the strategic evaluate.

Asked about any feasible affect from the Swiss Economic Marketplace Supervisory Authority FINMA, the financial institution spokesperson said: “The initiated strategy evaluate is in the bank’s individual curiosity and not owing to external tension.”

Gazprombank Switzerland was strongly capitalised and operationally very well positioned, the spokesperson included.

According to the newest publicly out there details, Gazprombank Switzerland produced a revenue of 3 million francs in the initial 50 percent of 2021, down from 4 million in the yr-in the past interval.

Gazprombank is not the only Swiss subsidiary of a important Russian bank that may possibly soon improve palms.

FINMA has eased the restrictions versus Sberbank (Switzerland) AG (SBER.MM). This would permit the financial institution to lower its harmony sheet in look at of a doable sale or adjust of ownership, the watchdog reported this month. read far more

($1 = .9744 Swiss francs)

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Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Composing by Michael Shields, Enhancing by Paul Carrel and Alexander Smith

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