Sberbank Europe Group
TypeAktiengesellschaft
IndustryBanking, financial services
Founded2012 (acquisition of Volksbank International AG)
DefunctMarch 2022 (insolvency proceedings in Austria; resolution in Croatia and Slovenia)
HeadquartersVienna, Austria
Area served
Central and Eastern Europe
Key people
Sonja Sarközi (CEO since 2018), Arndt Röchling (CFO), Alexander Witte (CRO), Aleksei Mikhailov (CTO)
ProductsRetail and corporate banking
Total assets€12.9 billion (YE 2020)
OwnerSberbank (100%)
Number of employees
Over 3,800 (YE 2020)
SubsidiariesSberbank BH d.d. Sarajevo; Sberbank d.d.; Sberbank CZ, a.s.; branch Sberbank Direct (Germany); Sberbank Magyarország Zrt.; Sberbank Srbija a.d. Beograd; Sberbank banka d.d.
Websitewww.sberbank.at

Sberbank Europe Group (Sberbank Europe AG) was a banking group headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and owned by Sberbank, a Russian state-controlled company. Sberbank Europe provided financial services to over 780,000 customers in eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It was liquidated in early March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

History

Sberbank Europe AG was established in 2012 after Sberbank acquired Volksbank International AG (VBI) and rebranded it Sberbank Europe. The deal involved all VBI assets – banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Slovakia, apart from Volksbank Romania. Société Générale and J.P.Morgan acted as financial advisors to Sberbank. Troika Dialog also advised on the transaction. The deal price was €505 million,[1] which is 1.0x VBI book value (excluding Romania). Organizational transformation and group restructuring were exercised during that period. It was decided that the regional headquarters of Sberbank Europe Group would be in Vienna, Austria. In 2013, Sberbank Europe received a full banking license in Austria. Volksbank subsidiaries were fully rebranded as Sberbank by 2014.

Sberbank Europe obtained its first Fitch Ratings investment grade, BBB−, in 2013.[2] Fitch affirmed its rating as BB+ with positive outlook in 2017. In 2019, Fitch upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to BBB− and confirmed it with a Stable Outlook in 2020.

In 2014 Sberbank Europe received a syndicated loan of €350m and launched Sberbank Direct in Germany, an online direct bank with basic retail products. Sberbank Direct gained €1.7 bn in deposits by 2015. In 2018, Sberbank Direct launched an online instant loan offer in Germany.

In 2015 Sberbank Europe sold 99.5% stake of its Slovak subsidiary, Sberbank Slovensko, to Penta Investments[3] for a confidential price. Sberbank Europe AG completed the Comprehensive Assessment consisting of the Asset Quality Review (AQR) and the Stress Test conducted by the European Central Bank. In 2016, Sberbank finalized the sale of the Slovak subsidiary and converted €370m of subordinated loans (Tier II capital) into Common Equity Tier I capital, strengthening its capital structure. In December 2017, Sberbank Europe completed the sale of its stake of 99.9230% in PJSC «VS Bank» (Ukraine) to TAS Group.

2019 became Sberbank Europe's most successful financial year. The bank generated a profit after tax of EUR 40.6 million.

In 2018, Sberbank won in categories “Best Bank in CEE” by The Banker magazine, “Most Innovative Digital Bank in CEE” by Global Finance magazine[4] and "Strongest Banking Brand in the World" by Brand Finance magazine. In 2020, Sberbank won the World’s Best Digital Bank Awards by Global Finance magazine. In 2021, the bank confirmed its title of the Strongest Banking Brand in the World according to Brand Finance.

Insolvency

In late February 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, bank runs and sanctions against the bank caused CNN to state the bank "...was failing, or likely to fail, because of "significant deposit outflows" triggered by the Ukraine crisis."[5] The European Central Bank stated the outflows "led to a deterioration of its liquidity position. And there are no available measures with a realistic chance of restoring this position."[5] On 1 March 2022, the Austrian Financial Supervisory Authority (FMA) prohibited further operations. On 2 March 2022, it was announced that Sberbank Europe Group is insolvent.[6] On the same day the Slovenian subsidiary was sold to NLB Group, while the Croatian subsidiary was sold to Hrvatska poštanska banka.[7]

Ownership

Sberbank Europe Group is fully owned by Sberbank, a Russian company. The Ministry of Finance of Russia is the principal shareholder of Sberbank, owning 50% of the bank’s authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining 50% held by domestic and international investors.

Management Board

The Management Board of Sberbank Europe AG consists currently of the following management board members:

  • Sonja Sarközi, CEO
  • Arndt Röchling, CFO
  • Alexander Witte, CRO
  • Aleksei Mikhailov, CTO

Sberbank Europe AG had also previously the following members of the Management Board:

  • Stefan Zapotocky (Chief Corporate and Investment Banking Officer)
  • Alexey Bogatov (CRO/CIO)
  • Gerhard Randa, CEO
  • Christian Kubitschek, CFO
  • Axel Hummel, CEO
  • Mark Arnold, CEO
  • Igor Strehl (Chief Corporate and Investment Banking Officer)  
  • András Hámori, Retail
  • Markus Krause, CRO
  • Valentin Mihov (Strategie)
  • David O'Mahony (CIO / COO)  

Operations

The bank has 187 branches in Central and Eastern Europe with over 3,800 employees (as of YE 2020).

Sberbank Europe Group AG operations can be divided into three core businesses: Retail business, Large corporate & investment banking and Small and medium-sized enterprise business. Retail business involves the provision of mortgages and consumer loans, savings and pension products and digital banking programs. Large corporate & investment banking includes corporate, real estate and acquisition financing as well as trade finance and treasury products. Small and medium-sized enterprise business offers liquidity financing (Working Capital/Overdraft), investment financing (equipment/business facilities), Treasury finance products and transaction business support.

Subsidiaries in Europe

Sberbank Europe Group AG was present in 8 markets in Central and Eastern Europe:

Bank Country Number of branches (as of YE 2020) Types of services Sale/closure of subsidiary
Sberbank Europe Austria 1 Corporate & investment banking, transactions and trade finance Sold June 2023 to Austrian Stefan Zöchling [8]
Sberbank d.d. Croatia 31 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business Sold March 2022 to Hrvatska Poštanska Banka d.d. (Croatia's Postbank) [9]
Sberbank CZ, a.s. Czech Republic 24 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business 30 April 2022 banking licence revoked and company put into liquidation 1 May 2022 [10]
Sberbank Direct Germany Pure online banking Retail banking
Sberbank Magyarország Zrt Hungary 27 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business In liquidation March 2022
Sberbank banka d.d Slovenia 12 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business Sold 1 March 2022 to Nova ljubljanska banka d.d.[11]
Sberbank Srbija a.d. Beograd Serbia 33 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business Sold February 2022 to AIK Banka
BIH Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina 32 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business Sold 2 March 2022 to ASA Banka [12]
BIH Banja Luka Bosnia and Herzegovina 27 Retail banking, Corporate banking, SME business Sold May 2022 to Nova Banka[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Sberbank completes Volksbank acquisition". Budapest Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  2. ↑ "RPT-Fitch Rates Sberbank Europe AG 'BBB-'; Outlook Stable". Reuters. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  3. ↑ "Sberbank Europe AG signed contract about sale of Slovak subsidiary | Sberbank Europe AG". www.sberbank.at. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  4. ↑ "Global Finance Magazine - Best Banks & Financial Rankings". Global Finance Magazine. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  5. 1 2 Thompson, Mark; Chernova, Anna; Cotovio, Vasco (February 28, 2022). "Russia faces financial meltdown as sanctions slam its economy". CNN. Retrieved February 28, 2022. One early casualty was the European subsidiary of Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender that has been sanctioned by Western allies. The European Central Bank said Sberbank Europe, including its Austrian and Croatian branches, was failing, or likely to fail, because of "significant deposit outflows" triggered by the Ukraine crisis.
  6. ↑ Sberbank-Europe-Insolvenz kostet fast eine Mrd. Euro
  7. ↑ "Sberbank Europe AG: Croatian and Slovenian subsidiaries resume operations after being sold while no resolution action is required for Austrian parent company". March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Sberbank Sells Austrian Subsidiary, Completing Exit from European Market". 16 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Sberbank Europe AG: Croatian and Slovenian subsidiaries resume operations after being sold while no resolution action is required for Austrian parent company". 1 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Notice of insolvency proceedings of the debtor Sberbank CZ, a.s. V likvidaci". 28 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "NLB d.d. to acquire Sberbank banka d.d., improving its market position in Slovenia and supporting the Bank of Slovenia in maintaining financial stability of the Slovenian banking sector". 1 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "Bosnia's ASA Banka acquires Sberbank BH". 2 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "Bosnia's Nova Banka finalises acquisition of Sberbank Banja Luka". 11 March 2022.
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