Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 19 / Trend E. Aliyev /
Bank VTB (Azerbaijan) has no plans to expand its activity in the short term by operating in the regions of the country, Chairman Alexander Eremin told Trend on Wednesday.
"Perhaps, we will take some action in this direction in 2016 which is the last year of the bank's strategy covering 2014-2016," he said. "For the immediate future the bank has no such plans."
The reason is that all economic activity is concentrated mainly in Baku.
"According to our estimates, about 78 per cent of business in Azerbaijan is concentrated in Baku," he said. "This is the current reality. We have examined the experience of other banks in the regions of the country which has shown that regional branches face many loan defaults and other problems. This means that the control is much weaker in the regions than in Baku. It is difficult for the banks to ensure the same level in the regions."
VTB Bank (Azerbaijan) has been operating in the country since 2009 and is a subsidiary of OJSC VTB Bank. Some 51 per cent of its shares belong to JSC VTB Bank (Russia) and 49 per cent to AtaHolding. In the Russian banking market VTB Group holds second place in all major indicators.
Among the Russian banks, JSC VTB Bank has the highest rating from the international rating agencies Moody's Investors Service, Standard & Poor's and Fitch.