Turkey’s Fiba has not put Russian bank up for sale: Board member

ISTANBUL

The Fiba Group has not put its Russian banking unit Credit Europe Bank up for sale, Fiba board member Murat Özyeğin said on Feb. 11, stressing that the company has “good relations” with the Russian government.

“We do not have any problems with Russia. We have not seen any pressure from Russia either. We are not planning to sell our banking unit,” Özyeğin said, as quoted by Reuters.

Sources said on Feb. 10 that the Turkish conglomerate had put the mid-size Russian lender up for sale, sparking speculation the move was due partly to the row between Moscow and Ankara over the shooting down of a Russian warplane last year.

Another source told daily Hürriyet that the economic crisis in Russia was also influential in the decision to exit, in addition to the diplomatic rift between the two countries.

But Özyeğin, the son of Fiba founder Hüsnü Özyeğin, told reporters on the sidelines of a business forum in Istanbul on Feb. 11 that such a sale was not on the cards. 

Credit Europe Bank currently operates in 12 countries, with 69 offices and 115 branches in 30 economically developed cities in Russia including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Novosibirsk and Rostov.