Russia’s Sberbank refutes claims about selling Turkish lender

Sberbank was claimed by Reuters to be considering selling Denizbank on June 14 to help it refocus on its core domestic market.

Four banking sources told Reuters that Sberbank had met investment banks to explore a potential mandate to sell Denizbank.

“Sberbank has met with some investment banks for a sale of Denizbank. However, given the sanctions on Russia, we are hearing that some investment banks are reluctant to get the sell side mandate,” one of the sources said.

Sberbank denied it planned to sell the Turkish bank. 

“The information about the sale of Denizbank is not correct. Denizbank is the most profitable foreign asset of Sberbank, with net profit in the first quarter at 293 million Turkish Liras,” Svetlana Sagaidak, Sberbank’s deputy chief executive, told Russian TASS news agency.

“Sberbank has recently increased the capital of Denizbank. This will allow our foreign subsidiary to support major investments aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of the country,” Sagaidak said.

DenizBank has 738 branches and about 15,000 employees in 81 Turkish provinces and abroad.