ITAR-TASS. Cyprus-based Hellenic Bank Plc is going to divest its Russian unit, Commercial Bank Hellenic Bank, for around €24 mln to Russian investors, Bloomberg reported quoting information posted on the Cyprus Stock Exchange’s website.
“The sale agreement has been signed today," the press release said.
As ITAR-TASS previously reported, Hellenic Bank, one of the island state’s three largest lending institutions, announced the upcoming sale of its Russian subsidiary, Hellenic Bank.
The decision to sell the bank was taken as part of the efforts to manage available resources as efficiently as possible, to plan investment, manage risks and focus the bank’s activities on key markets.
Russia-based Hellenic Bank was established in February 2009 and has been providing banking services in Moscow since January 2011. The Russian subsidiary limited its activities to operations in Russia in 2013 when Cypriot authorities restructured the country’s banking sector in exchange for a bailout of €10 bln.
As of May 17, 2014 the bank’s aggregate assets totaled roughly €28.76 mln, while Hellenic Bank Group’s reached €6.4 bln as of December 31, 2013.
When the Cypriot banking sector went through restructuring Hellenic Bank suffered less than other banks, and it managed to avoid partial writedown on deposit accounts. Last November the bank’s management announced the successful completion of recapitalization efforts, having collected on time and abundantly €36 mln of €294 mln that it needed to increase its tier 1 capital adequacy ratio of 9% in accordance with the EU requirements. As many as three private companies (Wargaming Public Co. Limited, Third Point Offshore Master Fund L. P. and Demetra Investment) offered the money, exceeding the bank’s needs.
