OREANDA-NEWS. May 20, 2013. After VTB’s SPO the state will retain control over the bank, with its stake reduced to 60.93%. In late April the government said that it had no plans to further reduce its stake in VTB in the next year, and did not adopt a roadmap for further privatization of state-owned assets.

Moreover, state support has repeatedly been forthcoming not only for large companies with state ownership but also other systemically important firms. Given all this, the assumptions made by Fitch Ratings amount to little more than speculation.

VTB Bank has no contractual relationship with Fitch. The agency’s findings thus only represent the opinions of individual analysts, and are sometimes pure conjecture. They cannot therefore be considered fair and balanced. Fitch’s speculative commentaries have become more frequent since VTB declined to extend its contact with the agency, and cast doubt on the abilities of its Moscow office.