OREANDA-NEWS. September 17, 2013. VTB Group executives have met with minority shareholders in Irkutsk. The focus of the seminar was on managing personal finances as well as various aspects of the group’s business. About 100 VTB shareholders living in Irkutsk and surrounding towns attended the event.

Alexandra Makarova, Head of VTB’s Division for the Irkutsk Region, spoke of the bank’s work in the region. “The branch in Irkutsk, established in December 1992, is one of the oldest regional branches of VTB Bank,” she said. “For the past 20 years, VTB has held a leadership position in servicing the foreign economic operations of the Angara area’s industrial companies, and is one of the region’s top five banks in terms of corporate lending and bank accounts. The group is also represented in the region by offices of its subsidiaries, VTB24, TransCreditBank and Bank of Moscow, and the non-banking subsidiaries VTB Insurance and VTB Leasing.”

Bank representatives spoke in detail about the bank’s corporate governance structure and development strategy, as well as about the group’s financial results, its dividend policy, shareholder liaison system, broker services at VTB24 and other privileges that shareholders are entitled to.

Director of the Shareholder Relations Service Yuri Marinichev informed the participants of the changes in the securities deals procedure entailed by the federal law On Central Depository, which recently came into force. He also spoke of the new timeframe and procedure for paying dividends to be applied starting in 2014 as a result of recent changes to the laws On Joint-Stock Companies and On the Securities Market.

“VTB Bank puts a lot of emphasis on personal contact with shareholders and on holding regular meetings with them at Shareholder Liaison Centres in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, as well as at regional seminars and Doors Open days,” VTB Bank Shareholder Relations Service Head Vladimir Khotkin said. “Irkutsk is hosting a meeting for the first time, and we have seen keen interest in this kind of events and tried to provide answers to the audience’s questions.”

The organisers said they plan to hold the next meeting with shareholders in Irkutsk in 2014. This region is home to 1,400 minority shareholders.