This is what press reports in Moscow say, as insiders in Nicosia said the official announcement will probably be made shortly. “BoC acquired a 99.7% indirect stake in the share capital of PJSC in 2008. It will all go to the Russian group,” the reports said. Behind the take-over negotiations which started in September is influential Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman who is chairman of Alfa-Group’s Supervisory Board. BoC, the island’s biggest lender, exited resolution status in July.

According to its website, Alfa-Group was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Moscow with a branch network of 511 offices across Russia and abroad. It includes a subsidiary bank in the Netherlands and financial subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom and Cyprus, and employs approximately 21,000 people. Last August, BoC appointed the Blackstone Group as its financial advisor to explore and review strategic alternatives available for its shareholding.

PJSC is incorporated under the laws of Ukraine and operates under a general banking licence issued by the National Bank of Ukraine. It is made up of 42 branches in 14 regions. Selling the Ukrainian subsidiary is part of ailing BoC’s restructuring plan aiming towards increased liquidity. Ukrainian depositors in BoC also lost up to 60% of their deposits above €100,000 after a €10 billion March international bailout demanded massive contributions from savers. At the time, BoC had to absorb Laiki – the island’s second biggest lender – which collapsed.

Source: InCyprus