OREANDA-NEWS. November 16, 2012. Sberbank Europe AG has been entered into the Austrian Commercial Registry. Volksbank International AG (VBI), previously the Eastern Europe banking subsidiary of the Volksbank AG (OVAG), will now officially operate under the Sberbank brand, reported the press-centre of Sberbank.

The Vienna-based banking group manages a network of nine universal banks in eight Central and Eastern European countries. With Sberbank as the owner, new chances and opportunities will open up for the Group.

Since the closing of the sale of VBI to the Russian Sberbank in February 2012, the holding in Vienna and the subsidiary banks in Central and Eastern Europe have undergone a complete transformation process. The goal is the creation of a leading, streamlined, modern and customer-centric banking group in Central and Eastern Europe that is primarily self-funded.

Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia, one of the top-5 banks in Europe by market cap and counts among the most economically successful financial institutions in the world. In the future Sberbank Europe AG will profit from its comprehensive technological know-how, as well as its innovative solutions for product development.

“Creation of Sberbank Europe brand is a significant step in the transformation process of Sberbank into a global financial institution. Synergy of the opportunities, experience and competences of Sberbank, the foreign network of which comprises 20 countries, allows Sberbank Europe to become a trusted financial partner for our clients in Central and Eastern Europe”, explained Deputy Chairman of Sberbank Management Board Sergey Gorkov.

“Our Group will not only profit from the name brand of our new, strong owner Sberbank. We can now also enter into business relationships with the economically promising Russian region as well as benefit from the global presence of the new shareholder”, commented Siegfried Wolf, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sberbank Europe AG.

In Austria Sberbank is planning to create a direct bank, for which the application for an Austrian banking license has already been filed. In business with private customers focus will be placed on modern service and attractive investment products. With this step the aim is to strengthen its position in the Central and Eastern European banking market. In the area of corporate customers, Sberbank Europe will concentrate on the one hand on small and medium-sized enterprises and on the other hand on companies that conduct their business across national borders.

Sberbank Europe AG (previously Volksbank International AG) manages a banking network of nine universal banks in eight Central and Eastern European countries: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and the Ukraine. In total the Group’s banks operate 296 branches and employ 4,195 members of staff (as of 30.06.2012).