Russian, Swedish banks want to operate in Belarusian market, official says :: Charter'97 :: News

Russian and Swedish banks want to operate in the Belarusian market, Pavel Kalawr, first deputy chairman of the board of National Bank of Belarus (NBB), told reporters in Minsk on Tuesday.

He said that the Russian bank was AlfaBank but did not specify the Swedish banks, saying only that their representatives had already held talks with executives of Belarusian banks.

He recalled that one of the Kazakh largest banks, TuranAlem, intended to increase the authorized capital stock of its Belarusian-based subsidiary, Astanaeximbank, from 45 to 99 percent in 2008, while Russia`s Vneshtorgbank was soon to acquire a controlling stake in Slavneftebank.

According to Mr. Kalawr, almost all banks in the country are so far increasing their ownership capital as projected. The NBB official said that it would be clear later whether the increases were due to a rise in the authorized capital stock, revenues or subordinate loans.

There were 28 banks in Belarus as of March 1, with 15 of them partly owned by foreign capital and nine wholly owned by foreign capital.

Foreign investments in the authorized capital stock of the 28 banks amounted to 7.59 percent, down from the March 2006 level.