OREANDA-NEWS The Italian UniCredit Group has announced its refusal to buy shares of Otkritie Bank, since the risks of sanctions that the United States threatens Russia are already negatively affecting the quotes of its own shares. Moreover, according to Russian media Kommersant, experts record a decrease in the share of foreign capital in the Russian banking sector as a whole.

So, after the information about a possible deal appeared, UniCredit shares on the Milan Stock Exchange fell for two days in a row and resumed falling after the deal was mentioned in the media on January 21. At the same time, a source close to the Central Bank notes that UniCredit was among the participants rather to increase the number of candidates for purchase.

In addition, according to Sergey Voronchenko, Director of S&P Financial Services, over the past ten years, the share of foreign players in the banking market has decreased from 18% to 11%. The indicators of the Russian UniCredit also indicate an intention to reduce the volume of business in Russia: the bank's assets have decreased by 6.5% since the beginning of the year, and in 2021 the level of customer funds decreased by 11%. Currently, according to experts, only Russian players can become investors in the bank.

Earlier it was reported that the Central Bank of Russia began preparations for the sale of shares of Otkritie Bank. It was clarified that special auctions will be organized for this, and an alternative way of selling the bank's shares to a strategic investor is also being considered. Applications were accepted from October 11 to 22, 2021.