The Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank developed and submitted to the government a document providing the sale conditions of SBERBANK shares, owned by the Bank of Russia, which will help to avoid a conflict of interests due to combining the roles of the regulator, shareholder and supervisor, the ministry said.

The Central Bank owns 50% plus one voting shares in SBERBANK (52.32% of total equity). The shares will be acquired at the expense of the National Welfare Fund at the market value for about RUB 2.8 trillion (~EUR 40.53 billion). The government or the Federal Agency for State Property Management will play the role of the buyer.

As of now, SBERBANK is the sole participant in SBERBANK Life insurance and SBERBANK Insurance, and the sale of shares also means the transfer of control over insurers to a new shareholder.

According to the Head of the Ministry of Finance, Anton SILUANOV, the strategy of SBERBANK will remain unchanged. Tatyana NIKITINA, Head of the Insurance Rating department of the National Rating Agency, noted that, in the short and medium-term, changes in the strategies of both insurers will depend more on the economic situation than on the owner change.