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Russia's Sberbank denies reports about plans to sell Turkish subsidiary DenizBank

Earlier, Reuters reported citing four sources that Sberbank was considering the sale of Denizbank

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russia’s largest savings bank Sberbank has denied reports saying that it plans to sell its Turkish subsidiary DenizBank.

In an interview with TASS Sberbank’s Deputy Chief Executive Svetlana Sagaidak said: "The information about the sale of DenizBank does not reflect the reality."

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Earlier, Reuters reported citing four sources that Sberbank was considering the sale of Denizbank. According to the sources, Sberbank has already held several meetings with investment banks but some of them refused to take part in the sale of DenizBank because of the sanctions against Russia and Sberbank.

According to Sagaidak DenizBank is the most profitable foreign asset of Sberbank Group.

In the first quarter of 2016, the net profit of DenizBank totaled 293 mln Turkish liras ($99.9 mln).

"Sberbank has recently increased the capital of DenizBank. This will allow our foreign subsidiary to support major investments aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of the country," Sagaidak said.

DenizBank has 738 branches and about 15,000 employees in 81 provinces of Turkey and abroad.

In the first quarter of 2016, the bank's assets increased by 16% reaching 115 billion Turkish liras ($39 bln).

"Furthermore, we are set to synchronize our processes and technologies, we are after a long-term development of our best practices and synergy in the business, as well as optimization of the business model by shifting it towards Digital Banking", Sagaidak said.

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