Top Russian lender leaves EU

Sberbank has finalized the sale of its Austrian subsidiary, according to a statement

Russia’s largest lender Sber has completed its withdrawal from the EU banking market, the bank said in a statement published on its website on Friday. It confirmed it’s finalized a deal on the sale of its subsidiary in Austria, Sber Vermögensverwaltungs AG in Abwicklung, which was the bank’s last branch operating in the bloc.

Sber’s press service noted that it had obtained all necessary regulatory approvals for the sale, but did not disclose the value of the deal. The bank’s Austrian unit will be taken over by a local firm controlled by entrepreneur Stefan Zöchling.

“The sale of our European subsidiary … to a foreign investor is driven by the current global situation. We are satisfied with the terms of the deal,” Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of the board of Sber, said in a statement.

He added that the bank now plans to focus on the development of its financial services inside Russia and in the markets of “friendly” countries. The term refers to nations that did not sanction Russia in connection with the situation between Moscow and Kiev.

Sber announced last year that its plans to divest from the EU market, due to sanctions it faced shortly after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

Sber operated in the region through Sberbank Europe AG, had branches in eight EU countries and served some 715,000 clients. At the end of 2020, its total assets in the bloc amounted to €12.94 billion ($14.2 billion).

READ MORE: Top Russian bank expands operations in Crimea

Late last year, Sber reported that it suffered 143.3 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) in losses from discontinued operations and the sale of its EU subsidiaries.

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