OREANDA-NEWS. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sberbank and OAO NOVATEK entered into a Strategic Cooperation Agreement until 2021. The document was signed by Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, and Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Management Board of NOVATEK.
The agreement envisages stepping up interaction between Sberbank and NOVATEK in the area of banking services, treasury operations, deals to attract financing, arranging the Company’s equity capital deals, and providing financial and advisory services.

The strategic cooperation agreement also includes reviewing the possibility of sharing experience in the area of HR policy. The parties noted that this agreement will take cooperation between Sberbank and NOVATEK to the next level and create a platform for executing current and future major investment production projects.

Sberbank is Russia’s largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Sberbank holds almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit taker in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and principal shareholder of Sberbank owning 50% of the Bank's authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining 50% held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has more than 135 million individual customers and more than 1 million corporate clients in 22 countries. Sberbank has the largest distribution network in Russia with almost 17,000 branches, and its international operations include UK, US, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and other countries.

OAO NOVATEK is Russia’s largest independent gas producer and the second-largest natural gas producer in Russia. Founded in 1994, the Company is engaged in the exploration, production, processing and marketing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The Company’s upstream activities are concentrated in the prolific Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, which is the world’s largest natural gas producing area and accounts for approximately 80% of Russia’s gas production and approximately 16% of the world’s gas production. NOVATEK is an open joint stock company established under the laws of the Russian Federation. The Company’s shares are listed in Russia on Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol “NVTK”.