Sberbank is not planning major purchases in the field of e-commerce now, but does not exclude them in the future, State Bank President German Gref answered The Bell's question during a press conference on Sberbank's 2023 strategy.

German Gref

President of Sberbank

“We are considering various M&A options in this market and, of course, we will buy players. We are not planning major purchases at this point in time, further - time will tell. As soon as we are in a state where these transactions are subject to disclosure, we will announce this immediately.”

According to The Bell, after a divorce from Yandex and a failed deal with Ozon, Sberbank is looking for a new entry into the e-commerce market. The Bank is negotiating with the owner of the M.Video group, Mikhail Gutseriev, on the joint development of the Goods.ru online marketplace owned by it.

The story of Sberbank's divorce from Yandex can be read here . Little is known about the deal with Ozon at the official level, but before the retailer's IPO, Ozon broke off a certain agreement of intent with Sberbank and paid the bank 1 billion rubles. In the summer, Reuters and The Bell sources reported that Sberbank was interested in buying a stake in an online retailer. It was about 30% of the shares. But it was not possible to reach an agreement with the main shareholders of Ozon - approximately 40% of Ozon's shares are owned by AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov and the Baring Vostok fund - failed.