The Centre for Economic Analysis of Interfax news agency (Interfax-CEA) has placed Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG (RI), the outfit of RZB Group in charge of international operations, atop of its latest Russian banking market scoreboard.
RI runs two banks in Russia, Raiffeisenbank Austria and Impexbank, whose aggregate asset base as of January 1 this year stood at RUR 287.5 billion (EUR 7.8 billion).
On Thursday last week, RI announced the merger of the two banks, scheduled for completion until year-end. Johann Jonach, chair of Raiffeisenbank Austria board of directors, was quoted in a Monday press release as saying the new bank will operate under the Raiffeisenbank brand name.
Impexbank went to RIs fold in January last year. Ever since, both banks underwent a series of capital hikes to prepare for the merger process.
The analysis of Interfax-CEA sees the two banks combined volume of retail deposits at RUR 79.5 billion (EUR 2.2 billion) and consumer lending portfolio at RUR 48.6 billion (EUR 1.3 billion). This entitles RI to, respectively, the third and fourth places on these indicators in Russia.
Prospects for further development are auspicious as Raiffeisen International continues to expand its branch network, which is now reachable by nearly 140 million Rusian citizens.
According to Pavel Lysenko, Chairman of the Board of Impexbank, "the joint progress of Raiffeisenbank and Impexbank is an excellent achievement and once again demonstrates Raiffeisen Internationals leading positions on the Russian market. We have proven that together we can react to changing market conditions quickly and efficiently, and render the widest range of services to our clients at the highest level."
Raiffeisenbank Austria is present on the Russian market since 1996 and currently it is the 10th largest universal bank by assets, Interfax-CEA said.
Impexbank, founded in 1993 and also a universal bank, has a top 30 standing by assets and equity. It has 203 branch offices and 400 consumer lending points.