Poland is a key market for Russia’s largest
lender by assets, Sberbank, the lender confirmed.
An expansion outside of Sberbank’s domestic
market is part of CEO German Gref’s international business
strategy, which includes a 5% contribution to group profits from
markets outside of Russia by 2014.
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A Sberbank’s spokesman told RBI:
“Sberbank is exploring opportunities in the
Central and Eastern European (CEE) market, as CEE markets provide
attractive growth and margin perspectives driven by economic growth
and catch-up effect of the banking sectors with EU peers.”
Poland in particular is a key market.
According to Russian media reports, Sberbank is eying up Belgian
lender KBC’s Polish subsidiary Kredyt Bank and Millenium Bank.
A statement issued to Russian daily Kommersant read:
“Sberbank is exploring opportunities on the
central and eastern European market (including Poland).”
The confirmation of Sberbank’s interest in
nothing new, however. In May, it bought Austrian bank
Volksbank’s international business.
Gref has also previously confirmed interest in
growing its business in the Turkish market.
Russia’s largest lender began its
international expansion strategy in 2006 and has since bought banks
in Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and Belarus.
