VEDOMOSTI. Investment fund International PetroChemical Growth Fund (IPCGF) that held the largest equity stake (42.9%) disappeared from the list of Bank Zenit’s co-owners, business daily Vedomosti writes on Thursday quoting the lending institution’s financial statement. “Currently, the bank has no IPO plans and IPCGF pulled out, as it ceased operations," a Bank Zenit spokesman assured.
The fund bought into the lender in 2006, the newspaper writes. IPCGF was established in October 2005 to draw long-term funds into the economy of the Republic of Tatarstan. Tatneft became one of the fund’s participants with an interest of around 45%, and four individuals, including Bank Zenit’s current board chairman Alexey Sokolov, kept company.
Last year the Foreign Investment Advisory Council approved Bank Zenit’s acquisition by Switzerland-based Tatneft Oil AG. Tatneft has already assigned a blocking interest in Bank Zenit to this fully owned subsidiary. At issue was upping Tatneft Oil’s holding to 48—49%, a spokesman of a regulator said at that time.
Tatneft’s equity position remained unchanged (25.1%). Another 3.4% of the bank’s shares turned out to be in the hands of a joint venture set up by Iskandar Garifullin and Evgeny Tikhturov who are Tatneft’s chief accountant and head of finance, respectively.
The interest equaling nearly 7% was assigned by Marat Safin, the son of Lukoil’s vice president, to Alexander Proshechkin who held a board seat at Bank Zenit till 2009. Also, 2.5% and 6.3% stakes are held by businesses controlled by Igor Oganesyan and Maxim Demin, former Tatneft employees.
The largest equity position (20.4%) after Tatneft is owned by a company with four owners led by Sokolov. Another 10.7% interest is also in the hands of the bank’s management board and board members, but no specific names are disclosed. NLMK owner Vladimir Lisin owns 14.8% of voting shares, the bank’s financial report shows.
