Izvestia (Moscow): "Bank by mail"
The process of establishing a retail mail bank that would provide financial services to the most distant corners of Russia has entered a decisive stage. Yesterday, a short list of candidates for participation in this ambitious project, supervised by Vnesheconombank, was made public.
Vnesheconombank, or VEB, is not just a lending institution; it operates as a national bank for development. VEB's Supervisory Board is headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
When opening the board's meeting yesterday, the prime minister thanked the bankers saying: "I can tell you now that in 2009 the Bank for Development was a major participant in the government's anti-crisis measures; it provided emergency assistance to the banking sector, the stock market, strategic companies and industries."
New loans issued to industrial sectors amounted to 123 billion roubles; 34 billion roubles were spent on export guarantees for innovation products, and another 40 billion was used to develop small and mid-sized businesses, Putin said. Even so, VEB "achieved good results": in 2009, the bank's net profit amounted to about 31 billion roubles.
In the future, VEB plans to implement several major projects, the establishment of a federal mail bank being one of them. The decision to establish a bank by mail, that will more than double the Sberbank network, was made recently. The new bank will be based on Sviaz-Bank (transferred to VEB for debt) with the participation of Russia's Mail company. The idea is to make a large private bank a major state partner, with a 25% to 50% stake in the new company.
From February 17 to March 18, VEB received applications from potential partners in the bank-by-mail project. The main requirements are satisfactory financial status, a rating assigned by an international lending institution, "successful experience in implementing projects for services to the public and to small and mid-sized businesses, and also the availability of a developed IT platform." Of the seven applications received, VEB chose three candidates: Italy's UniCredit, Russky Standart Bank, and the alliance of NOMOS-Bank and the Czech Republic's Home Credit & Finance Bank (with NOMOS-Bank to ensure project financing and HCF Bank –technology transfer – Izvestia), VEB's chairman Vladimir Dmitriev said.
"I hope we'll make a decision on the main partner bank within three months," he added.
It will take several years to set up a mail bank. The total cost of the project is estimated at $5 billion to $10 billion, with VEB planning to contribute 30 billion roubles.
Pavel Arabov
