VEB seeks partners for possible post bank

Russian state bank VEB is seeking a strategic partner to buy up to 50% in a planned federal postal bank, a potential rival to Sberbank, Russia’s leading lender, reports Reuters. The article continues:

VEB chief executive Vladmir Dmitriyev told Reuters on Wednesday that the project may require 30bn roubles ($995m) or more.

The partner bank “should be ready to inject capital into the Postal bank’s capital – including the purchase of additional share issues and maintaining its stake – holding the share of no less than 25% but up to 50%,” VEB said in a statement.
VEB plans to create a postal bank based on its subsidiary Svyazbank in conjunction with Russian Post, which has 42,000 branches, a network twice as big as Sberbank’s.

Russian Post employs 415,000 people and handles 190m money transfer operations a year with pension transfers a key operation, but many of its outlets date from the Soviet era and are in need of modernising.

The bank is asking for proposals by 18 March.