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EBRD And RDIF To Become MICEX-RTS Shareholders

30.01.2012 14:28 / Vedomosti

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have come to an arrangement to buy 6.29% and 1.25% shares of the Russian MICEX-RTS stock exchange, says the Stock Exchange release. The project is a part of a long-term strategy for the Russian capital market development and enhancement of the integrated stock exchange attractiveness on the regional and international levels, says the release.

“The unstable world economy calls for more active efforts in Russian capital markets development in order to create liquidity for the domestic economy and build an integrated stock exchange, which is key for the current process”, said Varel Freeman, the First Vice President of the EBRD as quoted in the release.

“We are glad to welcome new shareholders of the major Russian stock exchange. This step of the EBRD and RDIF shows that the reforms in Russia reach the target – the Russian market is attractive for Western investors, and the investment climate in Russia is improving,” says MICEX-RTS President Ruben Aganbegyan. According to him, the appearance of “major financial institutions (among the shareholders of this infrastructure organization) is very important for the future of the International Financial Centre in Moscow”.

“It shows that the EBRD investors are very interested in economic growth in Russia and believe in the financial markets”, RDIF General Director Kirill Dmitriev said in his interview to the RT TV channel. “We expect this deal to bring us substantial profit, and we are glad to invest into the Russian financial services market, which will attract new global investors,” he added.

The EBRD buys the former Evrofinance Mosnarbank block of shares, a source connected with the negotiating parties told “Vedomosti”.

This marks the first investment of the RDIF, established just six months ago.

The deal is the second attempt of the EBRD to join the Russian stock exchange capital. In Autumn 2010, the Bank attempted to buy the RTS block (10%) held by “KIT Finance”. However, it faced the opposition of the Russian authorities, including Vladimir Milovidov, a former Head of the Federal Financial Markets Service. It is the debut investment for RDIF.

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