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

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprombank is discovering strategic selections for its Swiss company, such as a probable sale of all or components of it, Zurich-dependent Gazprombank Switzerland stated on Friday.

Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) is 1 of the very last remaining channels for funding trade flows concerning Russia and Switzerland for the reason that the other major Russian banking institutions are subject matter to sanctions about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Its Swiss business, which employs about 80 folks, is predominantly lively in trade and export financing, like serving to Swiss industrial teams finance exports to Eastern Europe. It also funds the extraction, transport and processing of raw products from Russia to Western Europe for commodity traders.

“The Financial institution at this time expects to conclude the strategic overview method – such as obtaining an trader if this sort of solution is pursued – by the stop of the 3rd quarter of 2022,” it stated.

Based mostly on fairness of about 200 million Swiss francs, the bank could be valued at all around 150 million Swiss francs ($154 million), one industry source, who declined to be named, said.

Attainable consumers for components or all of Gazprombank could be fiscal 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 business resource explained to Reuters, and the initially prospective customers have by now expressed curiosity.

“It is the accountability of the Board of Administrators to on a regular basis critique the strategic orientation of a lender and to realign the business product if essential,” the spokesperson said when requested whether existing or potential global sanctions had brought on the strategic critique.

Requested about any achievable affect from the Swiss Fiscal Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, the lender spokesperson said: “The initiated technique review is in the bank’s individual fascination and not because of to external stress.”

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

According to the latest publicly out there details, Gazprombank Switzerland created a financial gain of 3 million francs in the initially 50 percent of 2021, down from 4 million in the yr-ago period of time.

Gazprombank is not the only Swiss subsidiary of a main Russian bank that may perhaps soon transform hands.

FINMA has eased the constraints versus Sberbank (Switzerland) AG (SBER.MM). This would let the lender to decrease its stability sheet in check out of a possible sale or adjust of ownership, the watchdog claimed this month. examine much more

($1 = .9744 Swiss francs)

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

Our Criteria: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.