Much quoted and frequently debated, the maxim that trade can bring change for the better still holds today. One business that has contributed to its validity all along is VTB Group with VTB Bank at its core, Russia’s second-largest bank and largest foreign trade bank.
Since its inception in 1971, the global provider of financial services has succeeded in sustaining trade relations between East and West in spite of recurring problems. As a subsidiary of VTB Group with its geographically unique network of around 1,000 branches in Russia and many more in the CIS countries and Europe, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG combines the benefits of an internationally operating commercial bank with its own expertise as a specialist bank for German-Russian trade relations.
“We are part of the European Sub-Holding (ESH) with its main seat in Austria and subsidiaries in France and Germany,” says Alexander Frey, Member of the Management Board with responsibility for risk management. “VTB Direktbank is another subsidiary of VTB Bank (Austria) AG that has experienced promising and successful development since its market entry in 2011. The VTB ESH itself has been raised into the ranks of the most significant banks of the European Banking Union recently, which is a great honour, but also implies a lot of extra administration and reporting.”
VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG offers a specialized range of products and services focusing on loans, financing and payment transactions, complemented by money market and currency trading services.
“We mainly serve medium-sized businesses in Germany as well as Russian investors wishing to take over small German businesses,” adds Mr. Frey. “Our clientele has been continuously growing in recent years, raising our balance sheet total to nearly four billion EUR.”
The confidence VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG enjoys as the subsidiary of a Russian bank in Frankfurt under German supervision is appreciated by clients in Germany and Russia. Moreover, like all VTB units in the EU, it has been excluded from sanctions and continues its business unrestricted.
A high level of automation and 100 qualified employees contribute to the bank’s general efficiency and help to meet the criteria imposed by the EU. “We have always played fair and supported sound and solid ventures rather than running risks,” concludes Mr. Frey. “We hope that the tension between East and West will ease in future and will continue to make our own contribution.”
