President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, Member of the Supervisory Council Andrey Kostin says the Group has found four buyers for its Ukrainian-based subsidiary, BM Bank, and the situation will clarify by the end of March, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
”We`ve got four buyers for BM Bank, they are now undergoing due diligence. I think the deal is quite realistic in the near future… We are still conducting negotiations. We have a benchmark [for the deal], and we would like to avoid additional losses. I think we need to pull out. The situation with BM Bank will become clear by the end of March,” Kostin told journalists during an investment forum in Sochi on Monday.
Asked about potential buyers, he said: ”These are local businessmen, bids from Ukrainians.”
”If we cannot sell it, it will be merged with VTB Bank (Ukraine). Its case is more difficult, as it is a bigger bank, thus more funds are needed for its acquisition,” Kostin said.
He noted that the National Bank of Ukraine did not impede the transaction.
”We do not see any special lines of resistance. Although rumors about upcoming changes in the National Bank may give rise to additional problems. Yatsenyuk is mentioned among possible candidates [for NBU governor]. So far no one creates obstacles, contrary to statements by some politicians,” he said.
VTB Group has two subsidiary banks in Ukraine – VTB Bank (Ukraine) and BM Bank. The group is looking for buyers for its Ukrainian assets.
In mid-February, Kostin said talks on the sale of VTB`s Ukrainian business was ”quite active,” but it was too early to talk about the timing of a possible deal.
