Russia's Sberbank Plans to Open Office in India's Mumbai in 2023 - Deputy Head

Russia's Sberbank plans to open an office in the Indian city of Mumbai in 2023, Anatoly Popov, the bank's deputy CEO, told reporters on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

"Amid expanding cooperation between Russia and India and increasing demand for banking products on the part of our clients, including exporters, we are working to open another Sberbank office in India, in the business capital of India, the city of Mumbai," Popov said.

"Sberbank sent a request to the local regulator to obtain permission to open an office, we are in the process of coordination, including with the Indian Ministry of Finance. We hope the office will be opened next year," he said.

The bank already has an office in New Delhi, which has been operating since 2010.

Sberbank, which is state-owned, is the largest bank in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. It accounts for about a third of all bank assets in Russia and calls itself the “the circulatory system of the Russian economy.”

The bank’s history goes back to 1841 when Nicholas I, the Emperor of Russia, first launched state-owned banks. In 1991, the Savings bank of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was reorganized into the Sberbank of Russia.

Sberbank claims 14,200 branches in 83 of Russia’s regions and employs 276,000 people, making it one of Russia’s top five employers, according to the bank’s website.