BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/05/2007

Russia's VEB soon to receive Belvnesheconombank shares

MINSK. May 28 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) expects to complete the sale of 33.52% of the shares in Belvnesheconombank for $15.2 million to Russia's Vnesheconombank (VEB), the NBB told Interfax.

"The deal with VEB is in its closing phase and it will be sealed within days," the NBB said.

VEB is buying 80,967,459 shares in Belvnesheconombank, par value 100 Belarussian rubles each, for 403 Bel. rubles each.

The NBB will retain $3.8 million, which represents the sale at par value, and the remaining $11.4 million will go into the National Development Fund.

VEB has also offered to buy shares from other shareholders in Belvnesheconombank at their market price of 403 Bel. rubles a share in a bid to acquire a controlling stake in the Belarussian bank.

The National Development Fund will receive $3 million from the sale of 16,090,563 shares (6.66%) in Belvnesheconombank held by the Belarussian State Property Committee, while $3.27 million from the sale of 17,413,367 shares (7.2%) held by state enterprises will remain at the disposal of those enterprises.

A presidential decree allows up to 47.4% of the shares with a market value of $21.5 million to be sold.

An official at Belvnesheconombank said that VEB had already reached agreement to acquire more than 50% of the shares and it is anticipated that the Russian bank will acquire the last of these shares by November 2, 2007.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko allowed VEB to buy shares in Belvnesheconombank in December 2006. The Russian government approved VEB's initiative.

The biggest shareholders in Belvnesheconombank are the NBB (33.52%), State Property Committee (6.66%), Russian National Space Bank (32.4%), Byelorussian Steel Works (BMZ) (5.3%) and CJSC Pinskrdev (6.2%). Belvnesheconombank has 823 corporate and 44,000 individual shareholders.

Belvnesheconombank was 193rd on the list of the biggest CIS banks by assets and 6th out of 27 Belarussian banks at the end of 2006, according to Interfax-1000 CIS Bank ranking.

The exchange rate was 2,145 Bel. rubles/$1 on May 28.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/276255/news.aspx