Bank BFA announced the beginning of cooperation with Bank Uralsib as part of a banking group. As BFA Bank said in a press release, the banks aim to "deepen mutually beneficial relations…and transform them into long-term strategic partnership". "The group that is under establishment will make it possible to expand substantially the scope of banking services, and also to promote BFA Bank products federally," the press release noted.
It is specified that "the parties agreed to contribute to deepening cooperation to share experience in the area of banking technologies, enhance the level of services and improve the quality of services provided for the bank's customers, and to execute joint projects".
BFA Bank expects that the current arrangements made within the group will enable it to solidify positions in the corporate sector, historically its priority area of business, and also to continue efforts to roll out retail banking.
"We are upbeat about our arrangements to team up within the banking group which meet BFA Bank's strategic target to broaden its resource base and the scope of operations, and also to expand its partnership network. The appearance of such partner as Bank Uralsib, one of the biggest Russian banks with a wide regional network, is a positive factor for BFA Bank to broaden and solidify sustainability of BFA Bank's business. Challenges faced by our bank are to turn into a leading commercial bank in Russia with a relevant share in the banking services market. I am confident that this cooperation will create additional prerequisites for the achievement of our goals," BFA Bank management board chairman Denis Gumerov commented on the decision to become a partner of Bank Uralsib.
To remind, St. Petersburg-based BFA Bank and Moscow-based Bank Uralsib are affiliated through the Kogans family as Efim Kogan holds the biggest stake (24.95%) in BFA Bank, and his father, Vladimir Kogan, a renowned St. Petersburg businessman and politician, was approved as Bank Uralsib's rescuer, and he owns 82% of this bank.
In early February 2016, business daily Kommersant wrote that BFA Bank's credit portfolio of up to Rub 30 bln would be used as collateral to rehabilitate Bank Uralsib, for the purpose of which the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) provided Vladimir Kogan with Rub 81 bln.