RUSSIA’S VTB CLOSES DEAL TO BUY 51% STAKE IN AZERBAIJAN’S AF BANK

RIA Novosti
17:19 | 09/ 12/ 2008

MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s state-controlled VTB Bank,
the country’s second-largest banking institution, said on Tuesday it
had sealed a deal to buy a 51% stake in Azerbaijan-based AF Bank.

"We plan in the near future to rebrand the subsidiary bank, and rename
it Bank VTB (Azerbaijan)," the VTB press office said.

AF Bank holds 39th place among Azerbaijan’s 46 banks in terms of
assets. It has charter capital of around $9.65 million and assets of
$15.3 million.

VTB’s Azerbaijan subsidiary will support inter-state programs and
participate in the implementation of large-scale Russian-Azerbaijani
projects with the involvement of Russian capital, the press office
said.

"The decision to acquire a controlling stake in AF Bank was made in
accordance with the strategy to expand VTB’s presence on the markets
of CIS countries [former Soviet republics, except the Baltic states
of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia] ," the press office said.

VTB has subsidiary banks in Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Georgia,
and also in some European and Asian countries.

The credit portfolio of VTB Group, which includes VTB Bank, has
grown 65% so far this year to 2 trillion rubles ($71.4 billion),
VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said on Tuesday.

"The credit portfolio of VTB Group in Russia grew 65% in the first
eleven months and 24% in September-November," Kostin said during a
meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

He also said VTB paid on Monday the first 3.5 billion rubles ($125
million) of a loan to Russian aircraft engine manufacturer NPO Saturn.

"We paid the first tranche of 3.5 billion rubles yesterday, which
will let the enterprise settle its liabilities on previously secured
loans," Kostin said.

"The second and the third tranches are to follow, and the loan will
total 11.5 billion rubles [$410 million]," he added.