Second Russian bank under way after Sberbank

Sberbank's little brother VTB is also looking for Turkish banks to buy. VTB will focus on investment banking and search for opportunities in this field.

Rumors rose again in financial circles. According to talks on the sidelines, Russia's second largest bank VTB stepped up to buy a bank in Turkey.

According to Vatan daily's Ufuk Şanlı's report, VTB manager met with an advisory firm last month and received an extensive presentation about Turkish banking sector. Russian's are expected to acquire a small or medium sized bank.

Russian VTB has an interesting feature. Only two years ago, then Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin had invited Turkish investors to buy shares in the bank which partially became public. He said: “VTB shares will be listed soon. We will be very glad if Turkish investors show interest in the bank.” Although Turks were not attracted to the public offering, Russian bank increased its financial strength with IPO and eyed international expansion.

Another interesting development occurred in April. Russian bank's investment unit VTB Capital issued corporate bonds in Turkish currency for the first time. Strong demand in the auction for 300 million worth bonds with 3 years maturity proved the banks right decision.

VTB, which provides corporate, investment and personal banking services, has a wide international network from England to China. State-controlled bank (75%) is Russia's biggest international player.

VTB has subsidiaries in countries that have strong relations with Moscow such as Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It is also active in England, Germany, France, Austria and Serbia. Moreover, it has four branches in China and India. VTB has 200 billion dollars in total assets by the end of 2011 and 18 billion dollars in equity capital. As of December 31, it employs 67,912 people globally and has subsidiaries, branches and representative offices in 15 countries. (Vatan, June 3 2012)