Translated material
Showed government participation
The government bought an additional issue of VTB for 180 billion rubles
The state, the main contender for an additional issue (SPO) of VTB shares, contributed 180 billion rubles. as payment for papers. It is expected that during this transaction the state share in the bank will increase to 85.5%. The state increased its stake in VTB in order to strengthen the capital base of the credit institution in conditions of financial instability, experts say, so it is not concerned that the transaction was 11% higher than the market price. Private investors will not overpay - they are not interested in the additional issue.3.73 trillion of VTB shares out of 9 trillion planned for placement (with a par value of 1 kopeck) were purchased by government agencies. All 180 billion rubles reserved in the budget have been spent on this, notes a RIA Novosti source close to the government. “Yes, everything has already happened,” he said. It is expected that as a result, VTB's authorized capital will increase by 37.3 billion rubles, to 104.5 billion, and the state's share in the bank will be 85.5%. The buyer took advantage of the right of first refusal, which all VTB shareholders who submitted applications to participate in the SPO have. As is known, other minority shareholders of the bank who have agreed to participate in the additional issue can buy its securities until September 4.
However, there turned out to be “not many of them,” said First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Ulyukaev at the end of August. The position of shareholders is quite understandable, market participants believe. Since the IPO in May 2007, VTB share prices have fallen more than threefold: from 13.6 to 4.3 kopecks. to yesterday's close of trading on the MICEX. This year the bank paid low dividends, and in the next two years there may be none at all. As you know, VTB top managers expect a loss at the end of the current year and do not exclude it in 2010. “Against this background, buying bank shares at the price set by the supervisory board (4.82 kopecks per share) and which is 11% higher than current market quotes, I believe, none of the market participants is interested in,” says the head of the stock market analysis department "KIT Finance" Maria Kalvarskaya.
It is obvious that an active participant in VTB’s additional issue is the state, for which this decision is dictated by the desire to improve the financial stability of the bank and the overpayment for the package does not play a big role, notes Sergei Tkach, chief specialist of the operations department of the treasury department of Transcreditbank. “For 180 billion rubles. at a price of 4.82 kopecks. you can buy about 3.73 trillion shares,” he argues. “I am sure that in addition to the government, state banks will participate in VTB’s additional issue, but even with a well-known lobby, it is unlikely that all investors will buy out at least half of the planned issue of 9 trillion securities.” In the most optimistic scenario, no more than 200 billion rubles worth of shares will be sold during the SPO, he believes. Sergei Matyushin, deputy head of the investment department of Zenit Bank, also agrees that government agencies will show the main interest in the additional issue. “Russian “physicists” are unlikely to be interested in paper,” he believes. “In addition to Russian state banks, it may go to foreign institutional investors.”
However, the bank itself does not hope to find demand for the entire issue of shares. Thus, in July, VTB CFO Nikolai Tsekhomsky noted that the additional issue would most likely not be sold in full, and the state’s share in the new authorized capital would not exceed 90%.
The Moscow Arbitration Court upheld VTB's claim and decided to recover 569.76 million rubles from Russian Machines (which unites Oleg Deripaska's engineering assets). debt. According to INTERFAX-AFI , a company representative asked to adjourn the meeting in order to pay off the loan. “Five days will be enough for us,” he said. A bank representative objected to the break, citing the fact that attempts to peacefully resolve the dispute “led to nothing.” The court rejected the petition of Russian Machines and made a decision on the claim. At the last meeting the size of the requirements was clarified. Initially, the claim was filed for 669.987 million rubles, then the amount was reduced to 586.6 million due to partial repayment of the debt. Russian Machines is a co-owner of the GAZ group, which is currently negotiating with 18 banks, including VTB, on restructuring debts worth 40 billion rubles. with the use of government guarantees. VTB's legal demands against Russian Machines will not prevent the signing of an agreement on restructuring GAZ's debts, a bank source told REUTERS , "this is a completely different story." An agreement on restructuring GAZ's debt is planned to be concluded in the coming weeks, sources in banks and the GAZ group say.