RIA NOVOSTI. The Bank of Moscow, 46.48% of which is owned by VTB Bank, sold its Latvian subsidiary (Latvijas Biznesa banka), a source familiar with the matter told RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday the Bank of Moscow said it cut its holding in the Latvian lending institution’s charter capital to 0% from 99.97%. The date, starting which changes were made is April 26, 2011.
The news agency’s source refused to name the price or the buyer, confirming the sale.
“The idea to sell the bank appeared long ago, preparations were made for about a year, so this is not a spontaneous transaction. The deal was also agreed upon with the bank’s new owners," the RIA Novosti source said.
Entrepreneur Vitaly Yusufov, the son of former energy minister of Russia Igor Yusufov, holds a major stake in the Bank of Moscow together with VTB Bank. This March he bought around 20% of the bank’s shares from Bank of Moscow ex-president Andrey Borodin.
“The reason behind the deal is that the Bank of Moscow was not satisfied with ROE and strategy (of the bank — editorial note), as the bank did not carry out retail business at all. Furthermore, Latvia and Russia do not have close relations," the source added.
Officially the Bank of Moscow reported that this action is driven by the planned restructuring of the group’s presence in the Baltic States.
