KOMMERSANT. Russia-based Rossiyskiy Credit, the beneficial owner of which is Anatoly Motylev, sent letters to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), voicing its aspiration to buy 100% of Commercial Bank Victoria, a subsidiary of troubled Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB). Finance Ministry spokeswoman Maya Milanova confirmed Kommersant the receipt of the letter, saying the final decision will be made by the BNB.
Rossiyskiy Credit “is ready to immediately fulfill all instructions and demands of the regulator, the BNB, and also provide guarantees of its intentions," the letters run. Kommersant’s request sent to the BNB remained unanswered. Rossiyskiy Credit’s press service said that the bank is considering a fresh offer to sell 100% of Commercial Bank Victoria in Bulgaria, noting that “the consideration means no acquisition”.
CCB, Bulgaria’s Top 5 lender, purchased Commercial Bank Victoria this May. Prior to this the bank was a branch of France’s Credit Agricole. As of January 1, 2014 Commercial Bank Victoria’s assets were equal to €245 mln, the credit portfolio came to €168 mln, retail deposits totaled €126 mln, while annual losses amounted to €7.5 mln.
The sale of Commercial Bank Victoria is driven by the problems faced by its parent company rather than its own, Kommersant writes. CCB purchased the bank just two weeks prior to the problems it encountered. Once the problems deepened amid prosecution of the bank’s largest shareholder, oligarch Tzvetan Vasiliev, CCB closed doors in September and was taken under supervision of the BNB. The BNB management board gave permission to sell Commercial Bank Victoria’s assets around a month ago in order to recover funds to cover CCB’s deposits. To speed up the bank’s sale it was divided in several segments (good loans with breakdown by products and bad loans). According to unofficial information, there are 16 contenders to buy Victoria’s segments, including Russian ones.
It is more profitable for the BNB to sell the bank as one lot rather than piece by piece as this could save problems faster, experts are confident.
