Sberbank in the third quarter classified the assets of its subsidiary bank in Ukraine as blocked owing to legislative restrictions that do not allow full disposal of these assets, Sberbank said in a statement.
According to Sberbank’s Q3 2021 International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) statement, the Russian credit institution is prohibited from transferring funds and other assets of the Ukrainian subsidiary to other companies of the group. Consequently, Sberbank has created reserves for these assets totaling 33.3 billion rubles.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine in August 2021 ruled in favor of Oschadbank, thereby banning the Ukrainian subsidiary of Russia’s largest bank from using the Sberbank trademark in Ukraine.
“We are now considering various options. Perhaps before the New Year, we will come up with a decision; however, unfortunately for now, this is a sore subject for us. Thus far there is no obvious decision,” Sberbank CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Herman Gref said in September when commenting on the situation.
Gref noted the high uncertainty regarding the fate of the Ukrainian subsidiary.
“We have a court decision regarding the non-use of our brand, and now we are engaged in the renaming of our Ukrainian subsidiary, though new sanctions have come into force there as of July 1, thereby formally rendering the sale process extremely difficult for us, adding of course to the uncertainty of the fate of our Ukrainian assets,” Gref said.
Ukrainian Sberbank, previously NRB bank, was founded in 2001. Russian Sberbank is its sole owner.
