VEDOMOSTI. Moscomprivatbank, a subsidiary of PrivatBank, which is owned by Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomaysky, could be sold as early as this week to Troika-D Bank, Vedomosti’s source close to PrivatBank and familiar with the course of negotiations said. According to the paper’s data, PrivatBank is going to sell its subsidiary for at least the capital ratio of 1.0 (Rub 4.7 bln as of March 27), and uncertainty surrounding the deal could emerge on Tuesday.
Troika-D Bank’s owners include Yury Zhukov, the founder of development group PIK, and two Ukrainian citizens Pavel Shepel and Alexander Granovsky. Troika-D Bank’s representatives are in direct talks with PrivateBank without participation of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA). This was also confirmed by the paper’s source who gained information form the Bank of Russia.
A source close to PrivatBank said that Troika-D Bank is the only contender, and in all there were around ten buyers. They are Probusinessbank, Renaissance Credit, entities controlled by Igor Kim and Anatoly Motylev, several bankers said, and also Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank which wanted to buy only its credit card portfolio. The paper’s interviewee close to PrivatBank said that the buyers are spooked by the high price and the need of the Kremlin’s approval for the deal.
By March 31 the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA, has acted as Moscomprivatbank’s temporary administration since March 7) should provide the Bank of Russia with a report on the bank’s standing, the agency’s employee said. Meanwhile, DIA already sent a letter to the regulator saying that Moscomprivatbank makes use of Privat Holding’s centralized information system, most of which is located in Dnepropetrovsk, these are electronic databases with information on clients, agreements, settlements, etc. Moscomprivatbank’s employees have no access to the system’s backup and restoration, which violates Statute 397-P, the paper’s source close to the Bank of Russia pointed out.
The bank could halt activities if it is cut off from the Dnepropetrovsk office, it would take months to restore its operations and assets would lose value and data could be changed by the head bank without any authorization, DIA said in its letter to the Bank of Russia. It is not possible to assign the subsidiary’s assets or liabilities to another bank as it is necessary to have full access to the database, duplicate it and give to the buyer, Vedomosti’s source close to the Bank of Russia said, adding the situation surrounding the databases can be solved only if both the buyer and the seller have goodwill. The regulator noted in its answer to this letter that the problem can be solved by bringing all support facilities to Russian territory through the bank’s sale to an interested investor. Moscomprivatbank employees assured that all databases are located and administered in Moscow.
