Moscow, June 28, 2017
The Russian Regional Development Bank, owned by Russian oil company Rosneft, has taken over Peresvet Bank, previously partially owned by the Moscow Patriarchate, in an effort to prevent bankruptcy, reports Reuters.
Before the transfer, the Financial-Economical Management of the Russian Church owned 36% of shares in the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Charity and Spiritual Development of Fatherland (PERESVET) Bank, with the affiliated limited liability company “Assistance” owning another 13%, according to TASS. The bank was incorporated in 1992 and based in Moscow.
Bank documents indicated on Friday that Rosneft, which was assigned to temporarily manage the struggling bank in January, now owns 99.999989% of Peresvet.
In early October 2016, the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc. published a report stating that Peresvet had issued more than 12 billion rubles ($201,408,960) in high-risk loans, thus putting its long-term sustainability in doubt. On October 21, the Bank of Russia appointed a provisional administration for Peresvet and imposed a moratorium on satisfying creditors’ claims. An investigation revealed that a “hole” of 104 billion rubles ($1,744,177,760) had emerged in the bank’s capital.
Russia’s central bank said in April it would lend 66.7 billion roubles ($1,190,000,000) to help keep Peresvet afloat, with another 69.7 billion rubles ($11,704,490,99) coming from more than 70 creditors, according to The Times of India. Nearly all shares were then bought out by Rosneft in June to further help keep the bank out of bankruptcy.