OREANDA-NEWS. March 07, 2013. A meeting between Russian and Vietnamese business circles was organised under the auspices of VTB Bank.

During their visit to Vietnam, leading VTB managers met with representatives of the national leadership. First Deputy President and Chairman of the VTB Bank Management Board Vasily Titov held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh and Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV). The meetings discussed long-term aspects of joint work, as well as the current activities of the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank (VRB), which is 50% owned by VTB.

The meeting of Russian and Vietnamese business circles involved representatives of major Russian companies seeking to expand their business operations in Vietnam, including Rosneft, RusHydro, Inter RAO UES, as well as the International Investment Bank and other companies. The Vietnamese delegation included representatives of PetroVietnam, Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (VINACOMIN). The meeting focused on specific areas of cooperation, including on crude oil and natural gas, electricity and engineering.

During the visit a letter of intent between VRB and the International Investment Bank was signed by Pham Duc An, Director General of VRB, and by Deputy Chairman of the Board of the International Investment Bank Vladimir Liventsev. As part of its cooperation with the International Investment Bank the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank will focus on support for Vietnamese companies which are expanding trade and investment projects in Russia. The International Investment Bank and the Vietnam-Russia Joint Venture Bank will provide mutual consultative services and will share information about the market situation and their investment projects.

VTB Capital organised a presentation for the meeting about its possible involvement in floating sovereign Vietnamese bonds on international capital markets. It also dealt with the issue of loans and the placement of shares for state-owned Vietnamese companies and joint ventures.