INTERFAX. The subsidiary bank of Sberbank of Russia in Ukraine, Sberbank of Russia (Kiev), former Bank NRB, commenced a rebranding campaign, Sberbank CEO and board chairman German Gref told the media Saturday. «As of today the rebranding of all divisions of our bank in Ukraine will get under way. I think that we should get this job done by the end of the year» — Gref said. Also, he confirmed plans to expand Sberbank’s regional network in Ukraine: «By the end of this year we should operate around 40 branches and the network should reach roughly 250 by 2009—2010». Presently, the lender’s Ukrainian regional network consists of 25 branches and divisions.
According to Gref, Sberbank’s subsidiary will be expanding at a fairly dynamic pace to find itself among Ukraine’s Top 10 Ukrainian banks in several years. «We do not pursue the objective of turning the Ukrainian subsidiary into a giant, ineffective giant, as organic growth is the ultimate goal. I suppose that within a couple of years the lender will gain ground among Ukraine’s Top 10 banks» — Sberbank’s chief executive pointed out.
By the end of the year, Gref assured, Sberbank’s subsidiary has no plans to up its charter capital, since its current amount is quite sufficient for effective operations on the market: «We are not going to increase the lender’s charter capital so far, as there is no need. Capital adequacy ratios allow the bank to carry out intensive operations on the market».
The parent bank will shore up the subsidiary bank’s liquidity. «As for the bank’s funding and liquidity support, we’ll do this to help it conduct efficient activities on the market. We are prepared to grant both subordinate loans and also resort to other funding mechanisms to enable the bank to fully execute its functions on the Ukrainian market. Funding is not a bottleneck» — Gref noted.
Bank NRB was founded in 2001. Based on the lender’s data, Sberbank of Russia was its sole shareholder as of July 1, 2008.
The lending institution’s H108 net profit came to 17.63 mln hryvnas or 2.1 times more than in the same period a year ago (8.56 mln hryvnas). In January-June 2008, the bank’s aggregate assets soared 53.4% to 3,079 mln hryvnas. The bank’s charter capital has been increased 11.1 times YTD to 839.92 mln hryvnas.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April 1, 2008 Sberbank of Russia ranked 45th among 176 banks that do business in Ukraine in terms of aggregate assets (2,158 mln hryvnas).
As of August 1, 2008 the official exchange rate of the Ukrainian hryvna is 4.8451/$.
