One of the biggest foreign banks in Russia may be sold off by its main owner — Raiffeisen International owner Christian Conrad said the group is prepared to relinquish control over its Russian and Ukrainian banks. "In certain parts of our business, for example, in big countries and big markets, perhaps in Ukraine perhaps in Russia, we are relinquishing our majority stake," Conrad told Austrian Public Radio, Interfax reported. The final decision will depend on whether there is the necessity to significantly increase bad loan reserves in our subsidiaries, he said.
Conrad was talking about several theoretically possible scenarios for the development of the group in the future, said Michael Palzer, head of Raiffeisen International's communications department. "His announcement concerns a very long-term perspective under the conditions of significant growth of the markets and the banking business, when an IPO may become one of the possible options for development," he said. "Now, we are not considering such a deal," Palzer said.
In February, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich and Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding announced a possible merger between the companies. Raiffeisen International is a public company, 70 percent owned by Raiffeisen Zentralbank, while the rest is freely floated. The main market for Raiffeisen International is Central and Eastern Europe, where it is represented in 17 countries. The Russian branch is one of Raiffeisen International's more significant branches. It represents more than 50 percent of the parent company's profits (last year, this indicator was about 33 percent), and it has the highest return on capital — 36 percent. Its assets, however, have fallen harder than others — 22 percent to 11.68 billion euros.
For the Ukrainian bank, the group would be unlikely to find a buyer, and Russia is the main driver of growth in the group. Therefore, the group would try to remain the only owner of the Russian bank, said Christina Marzea, an analyst at Merrill Lynch. The sale of these assets would be unlikely to cover the parent company's capital requirements, she said.
The size of Raiffeisen's foreign business is too weighty for the group — but is very profitable — and to support its development may require more funds that the parent company is able to invest in its current plans, said Roman Vorobyov, chairman of Russian International Bank.
Author: Tatyana Voronova
