Second largest bank in Russia willing to take over Romania’s Railfright Company
2012-03-12 12:48:53
VTB Capital - the second largest state-owned bank in Russia - intends to finance energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and agriculture projects in several countries in South Eastern Europe, local press informs today (Tues).
"I will be happy if we invest a few hundred million Euros in the next years in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Greece. (…) We are interested in the privatisation of the Railfreight Company (CFR Marfa)," Atanas Bostandjiev the general manager of the bank said today (Tues), according to "Gandul" online newsservice.
The Russian bank has similar plans for finance projects in Slovenia and Croatia, Bostandjiev added.
Following the IMF’s request, the Romanian Cabinet decided last December to sell the state owned Railfreight company CFR Marfa to a strategic investor. The privatisation process is scheduled to end by October this year and it is going to be supervised by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Last year, VTB Capital, through its Austrian division BT Invest, took over 80 per cent of Bulgartabak, Bulgaria’s largest cigarette producer, in a deal worth 100 million Euros.
The Bulgarian Cabinet is currently preparing to sell the state shares in several utility companies in order to pay for the country’s debt service obligations. In this context, VTB Capital is looking to acquire Vivacom, Bulgaria’s landline telephony operator, in partnership with Bulgarian Corporate Commercial Bank.