MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s largest state-controlled bank Sberbank has rebranded Austria’s Volksbank International AG (VBI), which it acquired in February this year for 505 million euros, into Sberbank Europe AG, the Russian lender said on Wednesday.
“Sberbank Europe AG was registered in the Austrian trade register as of November 1, 2012,” Sberbank said in a statement.
Sberbank acquired 100 percent of Volksbank International, an Eastern European subsidiary of Austria’s Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG banking group, in early 2012 in order to further expand into Europe.
“The emergence of the Sberbank Europe brand is an important stage in the development of Sberbank, which is successfully transforming into a global financial institution. The synergy of Sberbank’s opportunities, experience and competences and its overseas network which already covers 20 countries allow Sberbank to act as a reliable financial partner for our clients in Central and Eastern Europe,” Sberbank Deputy CEO Sergei Gorkov said.