MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia's top lender, Sberbank , is not holding talks to buy Austrian lender Oesterreichische Volksbanken AG's eastern Europe arm Volksbank International (VBI), Sberbank's head said on Friday.
'We are not in talks about the Volksbank acquisition. The information that came out was not quite accurate,' Chief Executive German Gref told reporters.
Austria's Der Standard reported on Thursday that Sberbank would prefer to cooperate with parent bank Oesterrichische Volksbanken, Austria's fourth-biggest lender.
The cooperation could take place in property development, or treasury, and could even involve getting German bank DZ's 25 percent in Oesterrichische Volksbanken, Der Standard wrote, without citing sources.
Volksbanken put its 51 percent stake in VBI and its sister leasing business up for sale in December.
It is under pressure to raise money to start paying back 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion) in state aid it got during the financial crisis, and is due to pay back 300 million euros of state capital by the end of 2011..
Officials at Volksbanken AG were not immediately available for comment.
($1=.7233 Euro)
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: SBERBANK/VOLKSBANK (vladimir.soldatkin@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: vladimir.soldatkin.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We are not in talks about the Volksbank acquisition. The information that came out was not quite accurate,' Chief Executive German Gref told reporters.
Austria's Der Standard reported on Thursday that Sberbank would prefer to cooperate with parent bank Oesterrichische Volksbanken, Austria's fourth-biggest lender.
The cooperation could take place in property development, or treasury, and could even involve getting German bank DZ's 25 percent in Oesterrichische Volksbanken, Der Standard wrote, without citing sources.
Volksbanken put its 51 percent stake in VBI and its sister leasing business up for sale in December.
It is under pressure to raise money to start paying back 1 billion euros ($1.38 billion) in state aid it got during the financial crisis, and is due to pay back 300 million euros of state capital by the end of 2011..
Officials at Volksbanken AG were not immediately available for comment.
($1=.7233 Euro)
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: SBERBANK/VOLKSBANK (vladimir.soldatkin@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: vladimir.soldatkin.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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