Sberbank’s controlling stake gets sold to Russian Ministry of Finance

Sberbank today informed its shareholders and customers of the closing of the acquisition of ordinary shares in the Public Joint-Stock Company Sberbank of Russia by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.

Russia’s Ministry of Finance has acquired a controlling stake in Sberbank PJSC from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation – 50% of the authorized capital, or 52.32% of the bank’s entire pool of voting shares, with one ordinary voting share of Sberbank still owned by Russia’s Central Bank. The purchase is part of the placement of funds of the National Wealth Fund of Russia.

The transaction is announced less than a month after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law No. 50-FZ “On the Acquisition of Ordinary Shares in the Public Joint-Stock Company Sberbank of Russia by the Government of the Russian Federation from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Invalidation of Certain Provisions of the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”.

Herman Gref, CEO, Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank, commented:

“I would like to thank the Central Bank of Russia for its extremely positive contribution to the development of Sberbank as its largest shareholder, and I welcome the National Wealth Fund of Russia represented by the Ministry of Finance of Russia as the new shareholder. In fact, via the National Wealth Fund the whole nation of Russia is becoming a Sberbank shareholder and the main beneficiary of its operations”.

“The entire team of top executives and I will make every effort to ensure that the goals of Sberbank’s strategy aimed at creating the most advanced services for customers, technological leadership, ecosystem development, and profit growth get achieved,” Mr Gref added.