The bank, the third largest in Russia in terms of assets, said the management company, Gazprombank Asset Management, will work with large foreign institutional investors, and is set to attract about $50 million for asset management by mid-2007.
Gazprombank executive vice-president Anatoly Milyukov said Gazprombank has no intention of buying other asset management companies, in particular Troika Dialog, a leader on the Russian market.
"It is interesting to buy players on a mature market, when you have no potential for your own growth," he said.
According to Milyukov, the trust management market still has potential for development, especially the market of holding private clients' assets on trust.
Today Gazprombank holds more than $2 billion in assets on trust, and intends to receive over $500 million for asset management next year, Milyukov said.
Gazprom holds an 87.5% stake in the bank. Gazprombank's assets stood at 738.7 billion rubles or $27.3 billion as of October 1, 2006.
