German bank Commerzbank has rubbished reports it has offered to sell its Russian subsidiary to Belarusbank, the largest bank in Belarus.
Media reports in Belarus and Russia on Wednesday quoted Nadezhda Ermakova, chairperson of the board of Belarusbank. “Commerzbank has made us an offer to purchase its subsidiary” Ermakova said in comments to reporters in Minsk.
Commerzbank declined to comment but a source at the German bank in Frankfurt said the story was nonsense. "We have no intention of selling the bank in Russia which is an integral part of our plans," said the source.
Belarusbank is looking to purchase a bank in Russia to service the flows of Belarusian trading houses in Russia and domestic companies working on that market.
Commerzbank has been combining its operation in Russia with Germany's Dresdner Kleinwort, which it acquired last year.
Dresdner, which has been a pioneer in Russian investment banking, has seen its pre-eminent position eroded over the past few years. The business has been scaled back and a slew of senior key bankers have left its Moscow office.
Commerzbank took at 15.3% stake in Russia's Promsyazbank in August 2006 and said it could increase its stake at a later date.
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