Head of Russia's VTB Bank Says Privatisation Options Limited Due to Sanctions

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The options for Russia's VTB Bank to be privatised are currently few and complicated because the bank has been targeted by international sanctions, the bank's president, Andrey Kostin, said.

"Options are scarce, options are complicated, [because there are] sanctions after all", Kostin told reporters.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Economic Development Ministry said that VTB was among 293 entities in the works to be privatised throughout 2020-2022.

In October, Kostin said that sanctions were painfully limiting the bank's ability to decrease the government's share. He also said that in legal terms privatisation would not amount to a breach of sanction.

VTB has been under sanctions by the United States and the European Union since 2014, limited in its avenues to attract financing.

VTB is 60.9 percent owned by the Russian government through its Federal Agency for State Property Management and the Ministry of Finance.