Russia’s Gazprombank explores choices for Swiss enterprise, together with sale

ZURICH, July 8 (Reuters) – Russia’s Gazprombank is exploring strategic choices for its Swiss enterprise, together with a attainable sale of all or elements of it, Zurich-based Gazprombank Switzerland stated on Friday.

Gazprombank (GZPRI.MM) is without doubt one of the final remaining channels for financing commerce flows between Russia and Switzerland as a result of the opposite main Russian banks are topic to sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Its Swiss enterprise, which employs about 80 individuals, is principally lively in commerce and export financing, together with serving to Swiss industrial teams finance exports to Japanese Europe. It additionally funds the extraction, transport and processing of uncooked supplies from Russia to Western Europe for commodity merchants.

“The Financial institution presently expects to conclude the strategic assessment course of – together with discovering an investor if such choice is pursued – by the top of the third quarter of 2022,” it stated.

Primarily based on fairness of about 200 million Swiss francs, the financial institution may very well be valued at round 150 million Swiss francs ($154 million), one business supply, who declined to be named, stated.

Doable patrons for elements or all of Gazprombank may very well be monetary buyers or different banks, a Gazprombank Switzerland spokesperson stated, declining to touch upon a valuation.

Commodity merchants is also interested by Gazprombank Switzerland, the business supply instructed Reuters, and the primary potential patrons have already expressed curiosity.

“It’s the accountability of the Board of Administrators to frequently assessment the strategic orientation of a financial institution and to realign the enterprise mannequin if mandatory,” the spokesperson stated when requested whether or not present or potential worldwide sanctions had triggered the strategic assessment.

Requested about any attainable affect from the Swiss Monetary Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, the financial institution spokesperson stated: “The initiated technique assessment is within the financial institution’s personal curiosity and never attributable to exterior stress.”

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

Based on the most recent publicly accessible data, Gazprombank Switzerland made a revenue of three million francs within the first half of 2021, down from 4 million within the year-ago interval.

Gazprombank shouldn’t be the one Swiss subsidiary of a significant Russian financial institution which will quickly change fingers.

FINMA has eased the restrictions towards Sberbank (Switzerland) AG (SBER.MM). This may permit the financial institution to scale back its steadiness sheet in view of a attainable sale or change of possession, the watchdog stated this month. learn extra

($1 = 0.9744 Swiss francs)

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

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.