KOMMERSANT. French group Auchan and French-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan will set up banks in Russia in cooperation with parent companies of their long-time Russian partners. So, Credit Europe Bank and UniCredit Bank stand better chances to maintain cooperation with international groups after they set up own banking divisions in Russia.
News that Auchan Group would launch its own banking project in Russia via a JV was disclosed to Kommersant business daily by several sources close to the company. “A bank is to be incorporated as a joint venture with Credit Europe Group, a Russian subsidiary of which is Credit Europe Bank, a long-time partner of Auchan,“ one source said. “Control in the Auchan-Credit Europe banking project will be in the hands of the French group,” specified another source close to Auchan. Credit Europe Bank confirmed this information noting that legally the new bank’s shareholders will be Oney Banque Accord (a financial division of Auchan Group) and Credit Europe Group, with stakes equaling 60% and 40%, respectively. “The bank’s charter capital will equal Rub 345 mln, relevant documents will be submitted to the Bank of Russia in the next few days," Credit Europe Bank president Haluk Aydinoglu said.
In recent years foreign non-banking groups have more pondered over the entry into the Russian banking market in partnership with already operating banks. French-Japanese auto alliance Renault-Nissan intends to open a bank in Russia in cooperation with Unicredit Group, whose Russian subsidiary UniCredit Bank has already been a partner of the automaker in Russia, several sources close to UniCredit Bank told Kommersant. “The JV’s partners are expected to be a banking division of Renault-Nissan (Renault Credit International (RCI)) and a UniCredit Group entity, but not its Russian subsidiary, and their equity stakes will equal 60% and 40%, respectively," the newspaper’s respondent said.
A request sent to Renault-Nissan remained unanswered, while RCI claimed that “in many countries we operate independently, but in some countries, e.g. Belgium, Brazil, Sweden, we deal with local partners. In accordance with the development strategy of automotive alliance Renault-Nissan, we’re exploring partnership options in Russia. It is premature to provide you with more detailed information at the moment”.
