Gref: negotiations on the exchange of Sberbank assets in the EU for RBI assets in Russia are not underway

Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref denied negotiations on the exchange of Sberbank’s assets in Europe for the group’s assets Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) in Russia, Vedomosti correspondent reports.

“I don’t know anything about it. As always, someone’s notions, a lot of all sorts of gossip and rumors have been launched, but no such negotiations are underway and have not been conducted, ”Gref said at a briefing following the results of the annual meeting of shareholders.

In mid-March, the German edition of Der Standard, citing the material of the weekly Falter, reported that RBI plans to exchange assets with Sberbank. Then Group CEO Johann Strobl toldthat theoretically the group is discussing such a deal, but “there is neither an agreement on such an asset swap, nor other concrete steps for its implementation.”

On March 30, at the annual meeting of shareholders, Strobl said that RBI had decided on the options for leaving Russia – to sell the “daughter” (Raiffeisenbank) or withdraw it beyond the perimeter of the Austrian group. Then the group noted that the market conditions for business in Russia are very difficult.

The European Central Bank (ECB) at the end of March began to put pressure on the Austrian group to quickly decide on the options for withdrawing from Russia. And a division of the US Treasury in January asked the bank for details of the payment business, as well as transactions of certain Russian clients.

Also, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the ECB announced that Sberbank Europe AG (a subsidiary of Sberbank) could go bankrupt due to liquidity problems. Then the regulator did not see any options for improving the situation of the European “daughter” of the bank, which fell under the blocking sanctions of the West.