YEREVAN, September 27. / ARKA /. VTB Bank (Armenia) expects its share of retail lending to grow to 20% from the current 14 percent, its acting CEO, Yuri Gusev, said today.
“I think this is an achievable target and the measures we carry out together with VTB24 Bank and colleagues from VTB Group will allow us to reach this figure, he said during a teleconference with the VTB24 board chairman Mikhail Zadornov and representatives of its subsidiaries in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
“Our current individual loans portfolio is about 5 billion drams. It is actively growing; the growth rates are close to 40-50%. I hope that they will be maintained until the end of the current and move into the next year,” he said.
Gusev also emphasized that access to financial services across VTB Group, including unified ATM network and a possibility for VIP clients to use VTB services worldwide are very for VTB Bank (Armenia) and its clients.
Gusev also said the bank hopes to raise its profits this year to $10 million, as much as projected by its business plan. In the first quarter the bank posted $4 million in profits. He, however, noted the stagnation of the corporate segment in the country.
“We get no new clients, while old clients are in expectation’ he said. Gusev also said the bank does not plan acquisitions, but is ready to consider relating proposals.
“Frankly speaking, there is no bank or crediting organization that can be bought. The big players are not for sale or have problems, which we would not like to acquire too, while very small players are specialized in the industries in which we hold pretty high shares ,” he said.
There are 21 commercial banks now in the country running 475 branches. In 2010 Ameriabank took over Cascade Bank. ‘to support the financial sector in Armenia, as well as create a stable financial platform for the post-crisis economic development.’
VTB Bank (Armenia) is owned fully by Russian VTB Group. It has 69 branches in the country, more than any other bank. -0-
