Bulgarian banking brothers Milen and Georgi Velchevi have bought the Swiss commodities trading business of Russia’s VTB Bank PJSC (a company whose capital is divided into transferable shares of equal value), thus opening the way again for the company, reported Bloomberg.
The agency points out that the Swiss commodity trading and financial outposts of the biggest Russian banks were a growing force in the sector before the war (in Ukraine).
And now the acquisition of this business by the Velchev family comes after sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have made it difficult for the VTB Bank unit to process payments or hire legal representation, the latter generally meaning an opportunity for “defense”, through lawyers, in court.
The announcement notes that the two Velchevs previously worked at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, respectively (Milen and Georgi). Later, Milen Velchev became the Minister of Finance in the government of Simeon of Saxe-Coburg, and then took over the representation for Bulgaria of the investment unit VTB Capital.
Milen Velchev refused to disclose the terms of the transaction, but indicated that the company will operate under a new name and with a review of the decisions made.
In March 2022, it became known that the European unit of VTB Bank Europe was put up for sale after the parent company, VTB Bank, entered the EU sanctions lists – one of the largest banks in Russia, in which the state is the most – the major shareholder.
Also in March, the US imposed sanctions on ten members of the Management Board of VTB Bank.
Later, in August of this year, Belgium, an important financial center, froze assets worth 50.5 billion euros belonging to people, companies and other legal entities that were subject to financial sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, among which namely VTB Bank.
