After months of negotiations, Vienna-based Raiffeisen International (RI) has signed a landmark purchase agreement to acquire a 93.5% stake in Ukraine’s second largest bank, Bank Aval. The deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval in Ukraine and Austria, adds significantly to RI’s existing banking assets in Ukraine and reflects its pioneering style in central and eastern Europe.
Vneshtorgbank is using its acquisition of Guta Bank to build up its retail services, planning more branches and aiming for a leading role in the mortgage market. By Brian Caplen.Russian state-owned Vneshtorgbank is pushing ahead on the retail front, aiming to claim an 8%-10% share of the market by 2010. During that period, total assets are expected to rise from $15bn to $35bn, including a forecast rise in mortgages from $150m to $2bn and in consumer lending from $300m to $3bn.
In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in consumer lending. At the same time, despite high average annual growth rates in this segment for the past three years (48%-50%), the market is set to expand further. The retail loans/GDP ratio is not more than 3% compared with 74% in the US, 52% in the EU and an average of 20% in the developing countries.
During the Russian Economic Forum, in April, deputy head of the Central Bank of Russia, Alexei Ulyukayev, who is in charge of Russia’s monetary policy, spoke to The Banker about the bank’s strategy. Q Will the CBR target inflation as well as the exchange rate this year? A The CBR has never publicly said it would target the exchange rates.