Rosbank takes over ONEXIM
Yesterday Rosbank issued a statement that it intends to merge with ONEXIMbank. This issue will be discussed at the meeting of Rosbank shareholders, which will take place on June 20. If the shareholders agree to this, then in July the first merger in Russia between a bridge bank and its “progenitor” will take place.

Shareholders of ONEXIM and Rosbank have long said that their banks could merge in the future. However, if in the fall of 1998 (and later) these statements looked abstract, now the merger of banks seems quite real - even despite the fact that ONEXIMbank’s debts to Western creditors still amount to at least $1.4 billion.
The fact is that by May 25, ONEXIMbank intends to sign an agreement on the restructuring of obligations. At the same time, according to the restructuring plan, most of the assets and liabilities will be transferred to a specially created trust company, the owners of which will be creditors. This means that the merger will no longer spoil Rosbank’s indicators - after all, there will be practically nothing left on the balance sheet of ONEXIM.
If Rosbank shareholders approve the board's proposal (and there is almost no doubt about this), the merger will take place in July.

ALEXANDER J-SEMENOV

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 88 dated May 19, 2000, p. 7