The Audit Chamber of the Russian Federation will verify the validity of the cost of Sberbank's acquisition of Turkish Denizbank, the head of the control department, Sergei Stepashin promised at a State Duma meeting.
"Let's calculate the cost of this purchase of Sberbank," Stepashin said, responding to a question of Communist Party deputy Nikolai Kolomeitsev on the feasibility of such a purchase.
On September 28, 2012, Sberbank closed a deal to buy a 99.85 per cent stake in Turkish bank from the Franco-Belgian group Dexia for 6.469 billion Turkish liras (2.8 billion euros). The perimeter of the transaction includes all subsidiaries of Denizbank, including its 'daughters' in Russia, Austria, Bahrain and Cyprus.
Kolomeitsev appealed to the head of the Accounting Chamber with a request to check the purchase. "In addition to the Olympic Games in Sochi, check the purchase of the Turkish bank by Sberbank. Experts claim its cost was significantly higher than the market value," the deputy said.
"As for the Turkish 'daughter', you are right, it has been recently purchased," Stepashin said.
According to him, this matter should be studied by the auditor of the Accounts Chamber, Michael Beskhmelnitsyn. Currently he is a member of the Audit Commission for verification of construction of the Olympic facilities in Sochi. However, once the auditor completes his work, he will check the transaction, Stepashin said.
"After the Olympics he will be asked for it," he promised.