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

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprombank is checking out strategic possibilities for its Swiss enterprise, which includes a feasible sale of all or parts of it, Zurich-primarily based Gazprombank Switzerland claimed on Friday.

Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) is one particular of the very last remaining channels for financing trade flows concerning Russia and Switzerland for the reason that the other important Russian banking companies are matter to sanctions around Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Its Swiss company, which employs about 80 folks, is mostly active in trade and export funding, which includes supporting Swiss industrial teams finance exports to Eastern Europe. It also funds the extraction, transport and processing of raw materials from Russia to Western Europe for commodity traders.

“The Lender currently expects to conclude the strategic critique approach – together with obtaining an trader if this kind of possibility is pursued – by the stop of the 3rd quarter of 2022,” it explained.

Centered on equity of about 200 million Swiss francs, the bank could be valued at all around 150 million Swiss francs ($154 million), a person market source, who declined to be named, explained.

Feasible customers for pieces or all of Gazprombank could be economic buyers or other banking companies, a Gazprombank Switzerland spokesperson reported, declining to remark on a valuation.

Commodity traders could also be intrigued in Gazprombank Switzerland, the marketplace source advised Reuters, and the first potential customers have currently expressed desire.

“It is the obligation of the Board of Directors to on a regular basis critique the strategic orientation of a financial institution and to realign the enterprise model if necessary,” the spokesperson explained when questioned irrespective of whether present or likely worldwide sanctions had activated the strategic critique.

Asked about any probable impact from the Swiss Money Sector Supervisory Authority FINMA, the bank spokesperson claimed: “The initiated system assessment is in the bank’s individual fascination and not owing to exterior stress.”

Gazprombank Switzerland was strongly capitalised and operationally well positioned, the spokesperson extra.

According to the hottest publicly accessible info, Gazprombank Switzerland created a earnings of 3 million francs in the initial fifty percent of 2021, down from 4 million in the calendar year-ago period of time.

Gazprombank is not the only Swiss subsidiary of a big Russian financial institution that may well quickly transform arms.

FINMA has eased the limits in opposition to Sberbank (Switzerland) AG (SBER.MM). This would enable the lender to decrease its balance sheet in perspective of a attainable sale or transform of possession, the watchdog mentioned this month. examine a lot more

($1 = .9744 Swiss francs)

Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Creating by Michael Shields, Modifying by Paul Carrel and Alexander Smith

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