VLADIVOSTOK, September 6. /TASS/. VTB plans to maintain presence on the markets of China, India, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and other friendly countries, Chief Executive Officer of Russia’s second-biggest lender Andrey Kostin said on Tuesday, adding though that the bank had no plans to open new subsidiaries there so far.

"Unlike other banks, we are not leaving, excluding Georgia probably as the issue is pressing there. <…> Unlike Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, we maintained our subsidiary in Kazakhstan. We have a bank in Shanghai," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, adding that "in this respect it is difficult to open new subsidiaries."

"I consider it necessary to keep and create a correct operation system for banks that exist. We have banks in our key partner jurisdictions of China, India, Vietnam, excluding Arab countries, and CIS countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan," Kostin noted. "We do not plan to open new [banks]," he added.

Organized by the Roscongress Foundation, the Seventh Eastern Economic Forum will be running from September 5 to September 8 in Vladivostok. TASS is the event’s general information partner and its official photohost agency. This year, the theme of the forum is: "On the Path to a Multipolar World."