pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
; ; ) is a Russian PJSCconsumer bank founded on January 28, 2016, and obtained a license from the
Central Bank of Russia
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (), commonly known as the Bank of Russia (), also called the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), is the central bank of the Russia, Russian Federation. The bank was established on 13 July 1990. It traces its ...
for banking operations No. 650 on March 25, 2016. It was previously the Leto Bank ("Summer Bank"; ) under VTB24. Prior to that, it was the "Bezhitsa-Bank" () in
Bryansk
Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census.
Bryans ...
. The company's headquarters are in Moscow.
History
In 2012, lawyer Dmitry Tretyakov from
Tolyatti
Tolyatti or Togliatti ( , ; , ), known before 1964 as Stavropol, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which is neither the administrative center of a federal subjects of Rus ...
proposed the Federal Property Management Agency to create the "VTB Post Bank of Russia Post Bank". According to Dmitry Tretyakov, his project involved the modernization of post offices at the expense of
VTB Bank
VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...
. Earlier, according to the lawyer, the Finnish company
Itella
Group (previously during 1994–2007 and during 2007–2015), trading internationally as Posti Group Corporation, is the main Finnish postal service delivering mail and parcels in Finland. The State of Finland is the sole shareholder of th ...
and the French La Poste were interested in such cooperation.
On July 31, 2013,
Kirill Dmitriev
Kirill Alexandrovich Dmitriev (; born 12 April 1975) is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), an at least $10 billion sovereign wealth fund created by the Russian government to co-invest in the Russian economy.
Dmitriev was born ...
, who is the head of the
Russian Direct Investment Fund
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (, RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 by the Russian government to make investments in companies of high-growth sectors of the Russian economy. Its mandate is to co-invest alongside the ...
(RDIF), sent a letter to both his close friend
Kirill Shamalov
Kirill Nikolayevich Shamalov (; born 22 March 1982) is a Russian businessman, the ex-husband of Katerina Tikhonova and the ex-son-in-law of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was the former economic advisor to the Russian government.
...
, who was the son-in-law of
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...
, an agreement was signed between the bank president, Director of
Russian Post
Russian Post ( rus, Почта России, a=RU-Почта России.wav, ''Pochta Rossii'') is an List of legal entity types by country#Russia, Aktsionernoye Obschestvo (AO, private limited company)Communications and Mass Media, Nikolay Anatolievich Nikiforov, for the Russian Post to purchase for 5 billion rubles a stake of 50% minus 1 share of Leto Bank (Summer Bank) from VTB24, with the purpose of reorganizing it into the National Post Bank. The remaining stake of 50% plus one share will be owned by VTB24, a subsidiary of
VTB Bank
VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, ...
and VTB Group. VTB CEO Andrey Leonidovich Kostin suggested appointing Dmitry Rudenko, the current head of Leto Bank, as the head of Post Bank (Russia).
January 28, 2016: a set of documents was signed between VTB24 and Russian Post on establishing the Post Bank (Russia). Russian Post purchased 50% minus 1 share of the newly established Post Bank (Russia) through its 100% subsidiary. The remaining 50% plus one share is owned by VTB24 of VTB Bank. Dmitry Rudenko, the head of Leto Bank of VTB24, became the head of Post Bank (Russia).
December 22, 2017: Post Bank (Russia) announces that President-Chairman of the Board of VTB24, Mikhail Zadornov, and the board member of VTB24, Alexander Sokolov, will step down. Both Zadornov, as chairman of the board, and Sokolov, as temporary chairman of the board until Zadornov arrives, become members of the management board of
Otkritie FC Bank
PJSC "Bank Otkritie Financial Corporation" or Otkritie FC Bank (, translates as ''opening'' or ''discovery'') is one of Russia's largest full-service commercial banks. It has more than 440 offices of different formats in Russia. It was co-found ...
. Post Bank (Russia) announces that the president and chairman of the board of VTB Bank, Andrey Kostin, as well as senior vice-presidents of VTB Bank, Dmitry Pianov and Vladimir Levykin, will be placed on Post Bank (Russia) supervisory board.
December 27, 2017: VTB's supervisory board sells to Post Bank (Russia) a 74.7% stake in the limited liability company Multicard, MultiCard, or MultiKarta (Russian: МультиКарта) "with a par value of 112,420,993 rubles at a price not lower than the market price."
December 28, 2017: VTB24 sells two shares to Dmitry Rudenko, the chairman of the board of Post Bank (Russia). VTB 24 and Russia Post have equal shares in Post Bank (Russia): each have 50% minus one share.
January 1, 2018: VTB transfers VTB24 fully into VTB Bank.
In October 2021 Post Bank sold the Multicard company to . Since 2022, Post Bank has been headed by Alexander Pakhomov, former principal of network and retail business unit of
Otkritie FC Bank
PJSC "Bank Otkritie Financial Corporation" or Otkritie FC Bank (, translates as ''opening'' or ''discovery'') is one of Russia's largest full-service commercial banks. It has more than 440 offices of different formats in Russia. It was co-found ...
.
Sanctions
Placed upon the parent banks of Post Bank (Russia) are sanctions to the VTB Group and its subsidiaries. These sanctions also apply to Post Bank (Russia) upon its formation in 2016.
July 29, 2014: the
Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...
(OFAC) published that “the VTB Group”, VTB Bank OAO, which is the second-largest bank in Russia, together with its subsidiaries, the Bank of Moscow through its parent bank, VTB Bank OAO, VTB24, and other entities under its ownership have been added to the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN). This freezes the assets in the United States of VTB, VTB Global, Bank of Moscow, and other entities; and blocks any United States citizen or entities from conducting business with VTB, VTB Global, Bank of Moscow, and other entities.
July 31, 2014: VTB was added to the European Union sanctions list due to its role in the
annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...
. VTB assets and its subsidiaries in the EU have to be frozen.
August 27, 2014: VTB Bank, VTB24, and VTB Group and their subsidiaries as well as all Russian financial institutions are under sanctions in Switzerland because of Russian interference in Ukraine.
December 22, 2015: United States imposed additional sanctions on VTB Bank and its subsidiaries. In November 2023 the Post Bank was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.
March 15, 2017: Ukraine imposed sanctions against VTB Bank and subsidiaries because of the ongoing Russian interference in Ukraine.
Shareholders
As of January 28, 2016, its only two shareholders were VTB24 (Russian: ВТБ 24) 50% plus one share and Russian Post (Russian: Почта России, ''Pochta Rossii'') 50% minus one share.
In December 2017, VTB sold two shares in Post Bank (~0,000012%) to its president, Dmitry Rudenko, formally reducing its stake below 50% to protect the subsidiary bank from sanctions.
In September 2021, before Rudenko stepped down as president of Postbank, VTB regained control. VTB management at that moment considered that the risk of sanctions had decreased.
In February 2022, VTB again sold two shares of Post Bank to its president, this time to Alexander Pakhomov. Now both majority shareholders have less than 50 percent of the shares.
MultiCard
From December 2017 to October 2021, Post-Bank owned a majority stake of a 74.7% in the limited liability company Multicard, MultiCard, or MultiKarta (Russian: МультиКарта) "Multicard" represents a wide range of high-tech services for companies of the banking industry: processing and personalization of plastic cards of all major international payment systems, ATM network service, cross-selling in online channels, geolocation, and many other solutions. Currently, the company owned by and provides services to more than 60 Russian and foreign banks.
History
Established in 1994 in Moscow, the limited liability company MultiCard (Russian: ООО «МультиКарта») received certification in the late 1990s as a third party payment system to interact with the international payment systems of Visa, Europay International, MasterCard, American Express, and Diners Club. In October 2014, Multicard met the requirements for the federal law #161-fz dated June 27, 2011, "On the National Payment System". Following the order #1306-r dated July 15, 2014, for the Bank of Russia to create nationally significant payment systems in Russia, MultiCard which is the payment processing system for VTB24 of the VTB Group met the security requirements in March 2015 and did not have to transfer its processing to the National System for Payment Cards (NSPC) (Russian: Национальная система платёжных карт ОАО «НСПК»). As of March 2018, MuliCard provides processing for the VTB Group, VTB Bank, and Post Bank.
In October 2021 Post Bank sold the Multicard company to T1 Group.
Sanctions
On December 22, 2015, the United States under EO13662 placed MultiCard on the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List which prohibits United States citizens, companies, or other entities from investing in MultiCard or conducting business with MultiCard and freezes any of MultiCard's assets in the United States.