Russia's largest bank Sberbank set to foray into UAE

Sberbank's physical presence in the region will position it to directly promote partnerships with Middle Eastern investors. - Reuters

Dubai - Sberinvest Middle East expects to open an office by the end of this year.

By Waheed Abbas

Published: Mon 14 Sep 2020, 4:57 PM

Last updated: Fri 18 Sep 2020, 10:42 AM

Russia's largest bank Sberbank on Monday said it had received approval from Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to open an office in the UAE and will target Russian businesses and investors across the region.
Sberbank's subsidiary Sberinvest Middle East Ltd expects to open an office by the end of this year and will have a fully licensed Islamic window. Andrei Ugarov has been appointed as the CEO and Behnam Gurbanzada as chief Islamic finance officer at Sberinvest Middle East.
"Last week, we obtained an in-principle approval from the local regulator to open Sberinvest Middle East Limited, which followed an approval from the Russian watchdog. We have been closely monitoring how the UAE has been evolving and transforming into an international business hub connecting the East and the West. The result of this is a new office of the Sberbank Group in Abu Dhabi," said Oleg Ganeev, deputy chairman of Sberbank and chairman of the Board of Sberinvest Middle East.
Sberbank's net profit in the second quarter fell 33.4 per cent year-on-year to 166.7 billion roubles ($2.28 billion; Dh8.36 billion).

"A physical presence in the region will position us to directly promote partnerships with Middle Eastern investors for their projects in Russia, as well as the export of Russian products to the Middle Eastern countries," said Ganeev, adding that, "We also have big plans to export Russian food products to the Gulf states and to develop traditional Islamic finance products through the expertise of the Sberinvest Middle East team." - waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com