The bank is expanding its network of offices in the region

Tyumen bank "Ugra" is expanding its presence in the North-West. By the end of the year, the credit institution will add four offices in St. Petersburg, and will also open offices in Veliky Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Cherepovets, Kolpino, Vsevolozhsk, Severodvinsk and Vologda. Experts believe that the company has chosen the optimal moment for expansion and will be able to increase its share in the region.

Tyumen bank "Ugra" is expanding its presence in the North-West. As the credit institution told Kommersant, during 2015 it is planned to open four new offices in St. Petersburg, as well as strengthen the St. Petersburg branch with offices in Veliky Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Cherepovets, Kolpino, Vsevolozhsk, Severodvinsk and Vologda. By the end of the year, it is planned to open one hundred new offices in different parts of the country.

OJSC Joint Stock Commercial Bank Yugra is a large regional bank from the Tyumen region, founded in 1990 in Megion. In 2013, the company rebranded and began expanding its branch network. The bank entered the Northwestern Federal District through St. Petersburg and opened offices in Syktyvkar, Petrozavodsk, Kaliningrad, Murmansk and Usinsk.

Anton Soroko, an analyst at the Finam investment holding, notes that in conditions of macroeconomic instability, most Russian banks are now trying to optimize operating costs and focus on those segments of the financial market where the decline in growth rates will be least noticeable. In particular, according to his estimates, the least market risks will arise in the mortgage lending and commission business in 2015. “Most players are now faced with the question of whether to reduce costs or still bet on a quick way out of the crisis and take advantage of the current situation by increasing their presence in the regions by absorbing smaller competitors, expanding investment activity, and also receiving support from the government. We believe that the prospects for Bank Ugra in the Northwestern Federal District can be assessed as positive: the bank is quite well represented in this region, and the moment of expansion seems optimal in order to increase market share at the expense of smaller regional colleagues,” says Mr. Soroko.

Naum Nekrestyanov

"Ugra" will take advantage of the crisis