National Reserve Bank

2022: Eurasian Development Bank sold the National Reserve Bank for 3.89 billion rubles

The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) sold the National Reserve Bank for 3.89 billion rubles. The EDB said this in its financial report published in February 2023.

In December 2022, the bank sold a 100.00% stake in the authorized capital of RBS NRBank (JSC) to an unrelated party. The bank received a monetary refund in the amount of 3.8929 billion Russian rubles and a non-monetary refund in the form of a share in a Russian company, - specified in the materials of the EDB, an excerpt from which is provided by the TASS news agency. At the same time, the name of the buyer of the National Reserve Bank was not named.

EDB sold 100% of the shares of the National Reserve Bank for 3.89 billion rubles

During 2022, the EDB recognized an impairment loss of $395,000 for investments in NRBank in accordance with an independent appraiser's fair value assessment report.

EDB management considered the acquisition of a controlling stake in NRBank for the purpose of further sale within a short time, respectively, the assets and liabilities of NRBank met the criteria for classification as assets and liabilities for sale, - noted in the materials of the development bank. As a result of the transaction, the EDB recorded a net profit from discontinued activities of $7.9 million.

Earlier, during the purchase of the bank, the EDB noted that the management of NRBank will be tasked with adapting the bank's strategy and approving it by the end of this year. After that, a decision will be made on the additional capitalization of the NRB.

As Frank Media wrote in April 2022, the EDB is preparing to become the main shareholder of the NRB, then the bank planned to capitalize the NRB by almost 12 billion rubles, sources said. Frank Media's interlocutors spoke about the sale of GTLK's stake in this bank amid sanctions against the state-owned company.^[1]

2019: A. Lebedev sold 80% of the bank's shares to GTLK

In December 2019, Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev sold his main asset - the National Reserve Bank. Lebedev owned 80% of the shares of the credit institution. The controlling stake in the bank was bought by the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK). The specific parameters of the transaction are not disclosed.

At the beginning of 2013, Alexander Lebedev announced to Kommersant his intention to sell the NRB. In 2015, the bank closed all its branches in the regions and left only a branch in Moscow. In terms of assets, which is 16 billion rubles, in the summer of 2019 he occupied 161 places in the country's banking system.

For Alexander Lebedev, this is really a long-awaited deal, said the head of the analytical department of the bank BKF Maxim Osadchy: "We need to note the non-core nature of this asset for Lebedev. After all, he, in general, is a well-known whistleblower of banking intrigues, bankers' tricks are on the one hand. And on the other hand, he has his own bank. Probably, it somehow complicated his life, and now he got rid of such a burden, I would say so, from this conflict of interest. As for the bank, it was so fading. Loss for nine months - 0.5 billion rubles, for 2018 - 0.4 billion rubles. Therefore, it is clear why the bank was put up for sale. Apparently, Lebedev could not really manage this asset. The amount of the transaction may be in the region of 7 billion rubles, hardly more expensive. In the assets of the bank real estate, office premises. GTLK may have needed a treasury bank to service the company's financial flows. "

The maximum personal fortune of Alexander Lebedev, according to Forbes, was $3.7 billion in 2006. After the 2008 crisis, its financial situation deteriorated markedly. According to media reports, in 2019, the businessman has about $400 million on his account. As the representative of Alexander Lebedev told RBC, after the sale of the National Reserve Bank, the businessman is going to engage in promising startups, in particular, in the field of environmentally friendly transport and catering, as well as media and journalism. In addition, he plans to fight the legalization of criminally acquired income and to repatriate illegally withdrawn capital to Russia.

Alexander Lebedev, after the sale of the bank, remains a co-owner and publisher of Novaya Gazeta, as well as the British newspapers Evening Standard and The Independent. The businessman owns British publications through the London company Lebedev Holdings Limited, which is registered with the son of the entrepreneur Eugene.