Russia's VEB gives up idea of selling Ukrainian subsidiary, mulling its closure

Russia's Vnesheconombank (VEB) is said to have virtually given up the idea of selling its Ukrainian subsidiary Prominvestbank (PIB).

PIB is now phasing out its operations: stops issuing new loans and attracting new bank deposits, as the parent bank is leaning towards the closure of the Ukrainian subsidiary, but the final decision will be taken in November, the Russian newspaper Kommersant said.

Experts believe that VEB's losses from the closure of the Ukrainian bank may amount to about RUB 13 billion. The fact that VEB decided not to sell PIB was confirmed by Kommersant's source in the state corporation and by a source close to the Ukrainian bank.

According to one of the sources, VEB is completely breaking off relations with the last buyer – Russian-Ukrainian businessman Pavel Fuks, as he failed to secure permission from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) "in any configuration." The Russian corporation chose to close its business in Ukraine.

The source close to PIB claims that the final decision on the closure will be made in November, but the bank is currently reducing the balance.

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In addition to Fuks, who acted in a consortium with Ukrainian businessman Maksym Mykytas (Ukraine's Ukrbud Corporation), another Ukrainian oligarch, the owner of DCH Oleksandr Yaroslavsky also showed interest in the acquisition of PIB.

But according to the publication, he is now more interested in buying Russian Sberbank's Ukrainian subsidiary, which is a larger and more interesting asset (6th place in terms of assets).

The source confirms that VEB does not really make any attempts to sell PIB and will not resume them in the near future.

The source close to PIB described the main challenges associated with its closure. "The problem is that there are loans on the balance sheet of the bank that are due to expire no earlier than in four years," the source said. "Accordingly, they can either be assigned for a small amount of money, or the network of Prominvestbank can be reduced to one office to wait for the completion of all settlements with customers."

Another challenge is the property owned by the bank. According to the source, it costs about $50 million and its sale will take much time. In addition, it is not appropriate time for this now, as the Ukrainian real estate market is in crisis, he said.