In the end, none of the original three bidders showed interest in the loan portfolio of Sberbank CZ. This was reported by the server Lidovky.cz, according to which the PPF investment group with its Air Bank, Česká spořitelna and ČSOB applied for the purchase of the assets of Sberbank CZ. In the end, however, none of the interested parties submitted a binding price offer. Sberbank CZ, which is linked to Russia, lost its banking license this spring. The reason was the deterioration of the situation of Sberbank CZ due to the outflow of deposits after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The municipal court in Prague then sent the bank into liquidation
“The interested parties withdrew their offers,” the liquidator of Sberbank CZ, Jiřina Lužová, told the server regarding the sale of the bank’s assets. She did not state the reasons for the applicants’ withdrawal. According to the server, PPF’s original offer for the bank’s assets was CZK 52.4 billion, and Česká spořitelna offered approximately CZK 52 billion. ČSOB was allegedly only interested in the mortgage portfolio of Sberbank CZ, so it was willing to pay about CZK 30 billion.
Sberbank CZ owns Sberbank of Russia through Austrian Sberbank Europe. The company ran into trouble after Russia launched a military strike against Ukraine on February 24. Queues of people who wanted to cancel an account or inquired about the operation of the bank then formed at Sberbank branches in the Czech Republic. Sberbank CZ subsequently announced the closure of branches and the suspension of transactions. Russia’s Sberbank announced in March that it would withdraw from Europe. On February 28, the Czech National Bank (ČNB) initiated steps to revoke the banking license of Sberbank CZ and on May 2 made a final decision to revoke the license.
After the license was revoked, the court sent Sberbank CZ into liquidation and appointed Lužová as liquidator. The liquidator has to assess the company’s solvency. Depending on the assessment, either the liquidation of Sberbank CZ or insolvency proceedings will follow. The liquidator should start monetizing the company’s assets and gradually satisfy the creditors from the proceeds of the asset sale. “We are currently carrying out an extraordinary financial statement and an audit of the current value of the bank, which will decide whether we will continue with the liquidation or go down the path of insolvency,” Lužová told the Lidovky.cz server.
In March, the payment of deposit refunds from Sberbank CZ to the bank’s clients began. Money is paid out through the Financial Market Guarantee System through Komerční banka branches, up to a maximum of EUR 100,000 (CZK 2,499,500) per depositor. At the end of June, the system also began to pay so-called increased compensation, regarding deposits above the basic limit of EUR 100,000 (CZK 2,499,500) from the sale of houses for housing or from inheritance. However, the payment of increased compensation only applies to authorized natural persons who have submitted an application by April 28 and have documented compliance with the legal conditions. Some regions and municipalities also had money in Sberbank CZ. For example, the Vysočina Region has CZK 2.4 billion left in the bank.
Source: Lidovky.cz and CTK
