The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has given shareholders of the bank Rossia permission to expand their business by merging it with the Gazprom-controlled lender Gazenergoprombank. The service announced the decision in a statement Monday without providing any other details. In late January, Rossia confirmed that it was considering various options to enlarge its business. One of the possibilities would be a merger with another major bank, Rossia's press service said in response to questions from Vedomosti.
Rossia's largest shareholders are Yury Kovalchuk, with 30.4 percent, and Dmitry Gorelov, with 12.6 percent. The lender had assets of 111.7 billion rubles and capital of 7.6 billion rubles as of Jan. 1, according to its results to Russian accounting standards. Gazenergoprombank, whose largest shareholder is Gazpromregiongaz, had assets of 121.2 billion rubles and capital of 10.5 billion rubles as of Jan. 1, according to its results to Russian accounting standards. Any decision about the possibility or terms of a merger between Gazenergoprombank and Rossia could only be made after Gazenergoprombank's board of directors considers the matter, said Maria Frolova, a spokeswoman for Mezhregiongaz, the fully owned Gazprom subsidiary that controls Gazpromregiongaz. Rossia's board of directors will discuss the possible merger of the two companies, a spokesperson said, declining to elaborate.
Gazenergoprombank has one other banking asset. In the fall of 2008, it became the owner of Sobinbank, which encountered financial difficulties during the crisis. There's an agreement that Mezhregiongaz would get a noncontrolling stake in the enlarged bank Rossia in exchange for shares in Sobinbank and Gazenergoprombank, a financier who works with shareholders of the banks told Vedomosti. Rossia was only interested in Sobinbank, since it has a developed branch network and retail business, but the owner decided to bring both banks into the deal, a source close to Sobinbank said.
On Jan. 15, Sobinbank announced that it was appointing as its chief executive Yevgeny Stepchenko, who was leaving the same post in Rossia. The merged bank could enter the top 15 in Russia by assets, according to Interfax's bank ratings as of Jan. 1. With assets of 282.4 billion rubles, it would reach 14th place — in between UralSib and Nomos-Bank. Currently, Gazenergoprombank, Rossia and Sobinbank occupy 32nd, 35th and 68th place, respectively. Their merger could become the second-biggest banking deal this year — after the merger of Societe Generale's assets in Russia. A spokesperson for Gazenergoprombank declined comment until the matter is considered by its board. Vedomosti was unable to get comment from Sobinbank and Gazprom.
In 2006, Gazprom reduced its stake in Gazprombank to below a controlling 50 percent. It is now controlled by the pension fund Gazfond, whose assets are managed by the company Lider, which in turn is controlled by Rossia. Rossia also received the insurer Sogaz from Gazprom.
Author: Alexei Rozhkov
