RIA Novosti
March 24 2004
RUSSIA’S LEADING FOREIGN TRADE BANK GETS ARMENIAN SAVINGS BANK
CONTROL BLOCK
YEREVAN, MARCH 24. (RIA NOVOSTI). The Moscow-based Vneshtorgbank will
acquire 70 per cent stock of the Armenian Savings Bank. Mikhail
Bagdasarov, the latter’s board president, and Andrei Kostin, his
counterpart of the Vneshtorgbank, signed a respective contract in
Yerevan today.
The Armenian block comes as a first-ever sizeable Vneshtorgbank
acquisition in the post-Soviet area, Mr. Kostin said to the media
after the signing ceremony.
Armenia has regained domestic political stability, and its economy
needs ever more money. Then, there are big Russian-based companies
with interests in Armenia, and they must be encouraged, he remarked
to substantiate the deal.
The Vneshtorgbank, or VTB, has ambitious plans for the Armenian
Savings Bank now that it is principal stockholder. Thus, it intends
to increase the authorised capital fivefold, and spectacularly
enhance the range of services, added Andrei Kostin.
Today’s transaction is Armenia’s most lucrative throughout the
post-Soviet years, Mr. Bagdasarov said, in his turn. Armenia still
has its 30 per cent stock, and no big decisions can be taken without
its consent, he emphasised.
Mikhail Bagdasarov described the deal as “not merely mutually
lucrative but necessary for unhampered progress of Armenian-Russian
economic contacts”.