Vitabank

History

2023: Bank takes part in series of "cash dollars for gold" deals - Reuters

Russian lender Vitabank imported banknotes of the Turkish gold trading company Demas Kuyumculuk worth 64.8 million dollars in 2022 and 2023. During the same period, Vitabank exported $59.5 million worth of gold and silver to the Turkish company, the agency wrote. Reuters

A person familiar with Demas' operations confirmed that the company was involved in a series of "cash for gold" deals involving Vitabank and two other Russian lenders between March 2022 and September 2023. According to the interlocutor, the delivery of banknotes from the UAE to Russia was the only solution that Demas found to complete long-term contracts signed before the entry into force of Western sanctions with Russian gold suppliers, while complying with Turkish and international rules related to cross-border payments.

According to the interlocutor, under the conditions of sanctions that actually cut off Russia from the Western financial system, payment of accounts by traditional electronic transfer was no longer possible. In the third quarter of 2023, when all pre-war contracts with Russian companies were completed, Demas stopped bilateral trade, the source said.

2022

Kirill Sokolov's refusal to buy a share

On May 16, 2022, TAdviser received information that Kirill Sokolov refused to buy a stake in Vita Bank.

In February 2022, Kirill Sokolov announced the purchase of a 93.6% stake in Vita Bank to create various payment services on his license using the Best2pay technology platform.

After the introduction sanctions against Russia , the project to create these services became impracticable due to the departure from countries international and, payment systems Visa MasterCard as it was planned to actively use their infrastructure and solutions. In this regard, Kirill Sokolov refused to acquire a controlling stake in Vita Bank and develop fintech projects.

My refusal to buy a stake in Vita Bank is due to the departure from Russia of international payment systems, in particular, MasterCard, which played an important role in plans to create fintech services. For May 2022, I am focused on creating my own investment fund. The fund will specialize in investments in dividend companies, from the capital of which foreign players and entrepreneurs leaving abroad leave, as well as in companies that are not able to develop due to other circumstances. My entire professional experience is M&A and integration projects. Given the fact that I managed to realize my assets in the banking sector before the start of the turbulence period, a good moment has come for entering new projects. Many investors have already shown interest in the fund - Kirill Sokolov commented on his decision.

Kirill Sokolov's statement on the purchase of Vita Bank

The former deputy chairman of the board Sovcombank Kirill Sokolov bought Vita Bank to create fintech a company on his license. Sovcombank will become one of the investors in the project, the press service of the credit institution said in February 2022.

The development of solutions for the new fintech startup (its name is not announced by February 22, 2022) will use the license of Vita Bank and the solutions of the Best2Pay platform owned by Sovcombank. According to Kirill Sokolov, Sovcombank will retain a large stake, but the new bank will be completely independent, "since the correct financial infrastructure project... should not be controlled by one, even if a large partner. " Sokolov added that other investors, including Sovcombank's competitors, will be involved in the future project.

Kirill Sokolov bought Vita Bank

I hatched such an idea for a long time, because I clearly understood that in a universal bank, projects for other organizations face competition for resources and other conflicts of interest. We have found an ideal partnership formula with Sovcombank shareholders, "said the former deputy chairman of the board of Sovcombank.

Some Best2pay products will be transferred to their own banking license, the founder of the company Kirill Radchenko will oversee this process. According to him, the service will continue to provide services to companies, and will add credit, brokerage products and services for small businesses to build the project.

The main shareholder of Vita Bank, registered in St. Petersburg, with a share of 93.6% at the end of January 2022 was Alexander Aladushkin's Kirov Leningrad Bakery Products Plant. Another 1.6% of the bank belonged to the company "Concept Finance" Natalia Voloshko, 4.8% - minority shareholders, follows from the materials of the credit institution.^[1]

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