Azerbaijan, Baku, June 6 / Trend, E. Aliyev /
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has acquired a 2.95 percent stake in Russian VTB Bank, according to a statement released on Thursday.
The deal worth $500 million was concluded within the secondary offering.
The bank has placed 2.5 trillion shares for a total amount of 102.5 billion Russian rubles. Along with SOFAZ, VTB shareholders are now Norges Bank Investment Management (4.28 percent), Qatar Holding LLC (through Credit Suisse AG) (2.95 percent) and Onexim Holdings Limited (2.43 percent).
On April 26, 2013, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan signed an agreement to buy VTB shares from an additional issue.
Earlier, the supervisory board of VTB Bank announced its decision to raise additional funds up to 102.5 billion rubles ($3.23 billion) by issuing 2.5 trillion of additional shares through public subscription at 0.041 rubles per one additional share. The Russian Bank registered the decision to issue additional shares and the prospectus on April 26, 2013.
SOFAZ was established in 1999 when its assets amounted to $271 million.
Under the company's policy, the funds may be used for construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure projects, as well as for settlement of important national issues. From 2001 to 2009, special attention was focused on the development of both the oil sector and the infrastructure of the non-oil sector of the country as well. At present, SOFAZ funds a number of strategic projects in the field of irrigation and transport.
SOFAZ was established in 1999 when its assets amounted to $271 million. As of April 1, 2013, SOFAZ's assets amounted to over $34.325 million, or 0.6 percent more compared with the beginning of the year.
The main purposes of the fund are: the accumulation of funds and placement of the fund's assets abroad to minimise the negative impact on the economy and prevent 'Dutch syndrome', to ensure savings for future generations and to maintain the current socio-economic standards of the country.
The projected total cost (average amount) of SOFAZ's investment portfolio for 2013 was set at 25.2 billion manat, while as of late 2012 it was projected at 23 billion manat.
According to SOFAZ's investment strategy, for the first time since last year up to five per cent of the fund's total investment portfolio may be invested in stocks, up to five percent - in real estate, and five percent - in gold.
The official exchange rate on June 6 is 0.7846 AZN / USD.