VTB’s representative office said it was a “voluntary forced surrender of the license” because “everything was frozen there.”
The State Bank of the Russian Federation VTB, which came under Western sanctions and was disconnected from the SWIFT system, is closing its only subsidiary in Africa. In particular, Banco VTB Africa SA in Angola, which opened in 2007, decided to surrender its banking license. This was reported by The Moscow Times.
“We are closing it, revoking the license. It is a voluntary forced surrender of the license – everything is frozen there,” explained the head of the bank, Andrei Kostin.
The Russian official explained that he met with Angolan President Joao Lourenço to decide the fate of the bank, whose second largest shareholder is the Angolan diamond mining corporation Endiama. But it was not possible to agree on the future of Banco VTB Africa, which was planned as a settlement for the Russian business.
VTB had similar problems with its subsidiaries in Britain, Germany and several post-Soviet republics.
The State Bank was stripped of control over VTB Capital and VTB Bank (Europe) and was forced to reduce its business in Georgia. The country’s National Bank revoked the right of the VTB division to service individuals and deposits.
VTB Georgia Bank eventually transferred its retail portfolio to local Basisbank, and its corporate portfolio to Georgian Liberty Bank.
We remind you that the Central Bank of Russia will stop buying foreign currency on the domestic foreign exchange market from November 28 until the end of 2024.
Source: korrespondent
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