Ministry of Finance and Central Bank will buy out Sberbank shares: details of the draft law
The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia presented a draft law envisaging the withdrawal of the Central Bank from Sberbank capital. According to the document, which was sent to the government, the procedure will include buying back the stake of the country’s main financial regulator at market value, thanks to the assets of the National Welfare Fund.
The Minister of Finance said that the procedure will be carried out with the liquidity of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, which has crossed the 7% threshold. According to the official, investing in Sberbank’s securities is a promising area for the Sovereign Wealth Fund. In addition, the acquisition of the shares will bring a stable income and ensure the safety of investments. The minister noted that the purchase of the bank’s share does not violate the previously adopted strategy of investing in infrastructure development projects.
One of the points of the bill is the presentation of an offer by the Central Bank of Russia to minority shareholders, when the first shareholding will be sold.
The terms and conditions of the forthcoming transaction have been developed taking into account the federal law, which regulates the activities of joint stock companies. It covers the implementation of the mandatory offer to repurchase securities to minority shareholders.
According to the draft law sent to the government, the offer should be submitted by the Central Bank to minority shareholders of Sberbank. This procedure is scheduled for the time of selling the first part of the securities at market value.
The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank are ready to cooperate on this issue and are interested in developing priority areas, which will strengthen the banking system.
Officials and representatives of the Central Bank have assured that the change of shareholder will not affect the level of services provided to citizens, all guarantees and obligations on deposits will be met without changing conditions.
Sberbank is the largest Russian financial institution operating in Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Before the Central Bank announced the withdrawal of capital, it owned Sberbank package of 50% and one voting share. The rest of the securities are used in public offering.
This financial institution is actively developing its technological direction and expanding the range of non-banking services, which includes various marketing, insurance and medical services. Sberbank occupies over 28% of the total Russian segment. It is the most expensive bank in Russia with an estimated capital of 670 billion rubles.
Since 2010, Sberbank has opened a representative office in Beijing, and a few months later several branches in India. The financial institution also created the Cetelem brand, where the French bank BNP Paribas was a partner. The sphere of activity is retail lending, which is provided in stores.
Sberbank management clearly follows the plan of transformation of the institution in order to create a modern technology company, which will compete with such giants as Google, Alibaba and Amazon.
