Sberbank closes deal to sell subsidiary in Austria

Sberbank closed a deal to sell a 100% stake in the Austrian subsidiary Sber Vermögensverwaltungs AG in Abwicklung (formerly Sberbank Europe AG). The assets were transferred to an Austrian company controlled by Stefan Zochling. This was reported by the press service of Sberbank.

“The sale of our European subsidiary Sberbank Europe AG to a foreign investor is due to the current situation in the world. We are satisfied with the terms of the deal reached,” said Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Bank.

With the closing of the transaction, Sberbank completely left the European banking market, the press service explained. They clarified that for this the bank received all the necessary regulatory approvals.

In February 2022, against the backdrop of the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the Austrian Financial Market Supervision Authority banned the banking group Sberbank Europe AG from continuing commercial activities. March 2022 Sberbank announced about the decision to withdraw from the European market. The “daughters” of the bank faced a large outflow of money and a “threat to the safety of employees and branches,” the credit institution explained.

In March of this year, the newspaper Der Standard, citing the Falter portal, wrote that Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) plans to exchange assets with Sberbank. Then in the RBI press service reportedthat 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.”

A month later, Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref refuted discussion of a possible asset swap with the RBI. He stressed that “no such negotiations are underway and have not been conducted.”