“It’s easier to list those with whom there are no difficulties”

After February this year, the situation on the Russian financial market has changed dramatically. The departure of foreign and some Russian owners increased the supply of quality assets. At the same time, the possibility of conducting litigation abroad has deteriorated. The President of the Board of Trust Bank told Kommersant about the new behavior of investors, the prospects for the sale of non-core assets Alexander Sokolov.

— What volume of transactions did you carry out in the first half of 2022? To what extent did the result correspond to the original plan?

We followed through with the plan, although it was more difficult than usual. For the first time in the history of our work, the bank faced the fact that planned transactions were disrupted. And it seems that the asset is packed, and the deal is structured, and there are applicants for participation in the auction, but in the end no one comes to the auction. If legally binding documents are not signed, your counterparty is free to exit the transaction before it is concluded at any time. There are many factors that influence this. One of the important ones is the high volatility of the currency. I think that this situation will be relevant for the second half of the year.

We also faced an unexpected challenge for us: a large layer of good assets appeared on the market, from which foreigners and Russian businessmen who fled abroad are leaving. For us, this is a new competitive field. We are accustomed to the fact that distressed assets are sold at a discount, and now this applies to operating profitable companies. That is, a potential investor now has a wider choice.

– Those who have money have switched their attention to good, not problematic assets?

– Significant part. Companies have a limited resource: as a rule, only one team is engaged in the analysis of assets. And if earlier they were engaged only in your proposal, now they are forced to spend time and money on alternative ones. And these assets are harder to value because the business model is often unfamiliar and requires a deeper dive. This is an additional risk area for the investor and pulling off a larger analytical resource. For us, this is a new challenge that we are facing.

Nevertheless, the bank closed a number of transactions. The largest is the sale of the rights of claim of the Zerno Don holding for 4.3 billion rubles. They also sold part of the Rostagro land bank for 2.7 billion rubles, several real estate objects from 0.5 billion to 1 billion rubles.

– Did you lure the buyer away with a discount?

– Not. We paid more attention to negotiations with potential investors, expanded their circle, and convinced them.

– About the deals that failed – are they mostly people who switched to other people’s assets, or those who wanted to save money and refused to buy?

– And those and others. But according to the results of the first two quarters, we are on schedule according to the business plan. For eight months, fees amounted to 24.9 billion rubles. The concentration at the end of the year in terms of the volume of transactions is always greater, so the end of the year will also be very difficult.

— KPI in connection with this reviewed? In 2022, according to the forecast, which was published in February, it was planned to transfer 54 billion rubles to the Central Bank. and get back 70 billion rubles.

No, they haven’t reviewed it. The adjusted figure of fees is 64.9 billion rubles. taking into account the additional financing of assets acquired under the additional plan back in 2019 and 2020. The goal is to complete the business plan.

What transactions have been pushed back? In August, you re-listed two assets (Ruspetro’s debt and a stake in ACRA) for auction.

— Yes, these assets were put up for auction again. Also, the first time they could not get out of Atakaycement – this is a large cement plant in Novorossiysk.

— Now there are more than 580 lawsuits in which you are or have been involved in one way or another. The processes that are going on abroad require the involvement of foreign specialists, taking into account the latest sanctions restrictions, including on the provision of consulting services, did you encounter any difficulties in your work? Did you have to change foreign lawyers, did they become more expensive due to sanctions?

— Conducting processes has become not so much more expensive as more difficult. But we overcome these technical difficulties and continue to work. In some countries we obtain licenses to continue processes, in others they are not required. The main thing is that the processes are underway. For example, we recently won one dispute in Cyprus, where the court lifted the arrest of Inteko shares. And this was already after the start of the “special military operation”. In this case, justice was implemented without political consideration.

– How do you pay them off in the current conditions?

– In a legal way.

— Previously, you made changes to the asset management and disposal policy, can you clarify what has changed and why the changes were made?

We do not disclose such nuances.

– What decision was made on dividends for 2021, in which you entered the top 10 banks in terms of profit, earning 52.1 billion rubles. according to RAS?

– Traditionally, we do not pay dividends, all the money goes to pay off the Central Bank deposit. And given that our goal is to maximize the return to the shareholder, dividends are not distributed.

— How has the composition of the Supervisory Board changed recently? Did someone come out?

I will leave this question without comment.

— What financial result did you get in the first half of the year?

— Negative. Let me emphasize: “Trust” does not work on the model of a standard bank. For us, the key performance parameter is fees, not profit. However, working with assets required the creation of reserves, which negatively affects profits. In this regard, we are like a regular bank.

— In what segments did you have to create additional reserves?

— We have created the most tangible reserves in the oil industry, as there was a high uncertainty with the price of hydrocarbons. Also with HoReCa. In the real estate segment, this was not required.

— By the end of the first half of 2022, the negative capital of Trust exceeded RUB 1.5 trillion for the first time. Due to what has the negative capital increased since the beginning of the current year?

— This is the result of the additional creation of reserves and negative revaluation. For us, capital is a derivative of our debt to the Central Bank and the fair value of assets remaining on the balance sheet. Debt is amortized to the extent that we receive fees less expenses. The remaining value of assets varies, among other things, depending on macroeconomic conditions.

– The segment of buyers has somehow changed, maybe new interests have begun to enter the market?

— There is no new type of investor. But those who used to be quick to make decisions and take trades are now slower because the market has become less predictable.

– Among your borrowers is Rustam Tariko’s group. A few months ago, a number of companies in his group defaulted on loans from Alfa Bank and received five lawsuits. Have there been any problems with the companies associated with it and in relations with Trust during this time?

– We also have a delay on this loan (the balance of the debt is about $50 million). Rustam Tariko and I are in dialogue, discussing how to return to the restructuring schedule.

Have you had problems with other borrowers? Perhaps due to currency restrictions, difficulties with the payment infrastructure?

– Now it is easier to list those with whom there are no difficulties. It is easier to interact with Russian manufacturers who had low import dependence. For example, Russian manufacturers of building materials. Italian facade tiles left the market – they were replaced with domestic counterparts. Manufacturers received a lot of additional demand.

Of course, many of the businesses we work with are having a cash flow problem right now. And this inevitably affects the fulfillment of obligations.

– This year you have a new asset – a controlling stake in Tochka JSC, bought from FC Otkritie. What are your plans for the sale of this asset? Will there be an auction? What if the minority shareholder wants to buy your share?

“Tochka is an asset for us like everyone else: it is subject to the same procedures and management principles. We did not put this asset on the sales schedule for this year, but this does not mean that if there is an offer that suits us, we will not exit it.

— Has anyone interested in this asset already visited you?

“As soon as we have something, someone immediately comes to us. Like a store.

— In addition to Tochka, did you have any new assets this year?

We’ll tell you later when it can be done.

— Do you have to sell all assets through an auction?

— An auction is a priority form of selling our assets, because it is the most effective tool. First, open trading is transparent to all market participants; secondly, they allow you to create competition. The vast majority of the bank’s assets are sold at auction.

Nevertheless, there are cases when we make a direct deal with an investor. It is justified if going through an auction is economically unprofitable, for example, due to the specifics of the asset or the risks that may arise during the exposure.

How many buyers come to one auction on average?

On average, one to three.

What are your plans for the second half of 2022?

— We expect that we will be able to sell Ruspetro’s debt. We will also sell a large livestock business – the Russian Grain Group of Companies. The second auction will be for a fairly large Timano-Pechora oil and gas field, the first time it was not possible to get out of the asset. KPI for collections for the second half of the year 47.3 billion rubles – 80% due to the sale of assets.

The end of the year will be very busy because we are one of the few organizations in the financial sector that has not adjusted this year’s business plan. If we fulfill it 100%, then it will be close to a miracle, because the conditions for the sale of assets are now extremely difficult. Moreover, we do not reduce the value of assets, we are still trying to exit them at pre-crisis prices. If it had been cheaper, it would have been sold by now. We try to keep prices, because we understand that our buyers are mostly strategic investors, and not those who are considering buying an asset with a view to further resale.

— What are the largest assets you have left by value?

– As before, these are Inteko, shares of Russneft, Rostagro, JSC Tochka.

Interviewed by Olga Sherunkova