MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russia’s top lender Sberbank plans to optimize its presence in European countries, Chief Executive Officer Herman Gref said in an interview published by Kommersant business daily on Friday.

"We plan to optimize European presence, though we cannot announce the countries," he said when asked whether the credit organization plans to reduce presence in Europe.

CEO did not specify how many European subsidiaries would be optimized either.

Sberbank Europe AG, headquartered in Vienna, is a banking group 100% owned by Sberbank Russia. It is present in eight markets in Central and Eastern Europe: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia and Serbia. Sberbank also has a subsidiary in Switzerland.

In August 2018, Vice President, head of Sberbank International block Igor Kolomeysky said that the bank did not plan any further expansion abroad and would focus on developing the existing banking structures.