VTB mulls integration of Pochta Bank in late 2025 at earliest

ST. PETERSBURG. July 4 (Interfax) - VTB is discussing integrating Pochta Bank into its structure, but probably not before 2026, the Russian state bank's first deputy CEO, Dmitry Pyanov told Interfax.

"Pochta Bank, for various reasons, does not have a complete line of products, for example, there are no mortgages and a very limited Russian Post stream customer base. We clearly understand that the right strategy for developing the retail business is not generating a duplicate team, duplicate product line, duplicate IT landscape where imports need to be replaced. Pochta Bank, for example, is not capable of financing a loyalty program like VTB finances, not capable of having such an IT budget for various products and advertising," Pyanov said.

"All these elements are critical for steady, profitable development of a growing retail business, so within VTB Bank we are seriously discussing the option of integrating Pochta Bank into the structure of VTB at some point, when we merge Otkritie, BM Bank and RNCB," he said.

"What it will look like technically and what timing is premature to say. There are particulars of a legal nature, Russian Post's interests must be factored in, including the infrastructure payment. It's large, several billion rubles," Pyanov added.

There are various possible scenarios for integration, such as along the lines of Otkritie, where clients migrate to VTB's books, or a consolidation option "like we're planning in regard to RNCB," he said.

"This will certainly be beyond the horizon of the second half of 2025. In my view, the earliest process window is the New Year holidays between 2025 and 2026," Pyanov said.

Pochta Bank, or Post Bank was established by VTB and Russian Post (OKPO code: 41587589) in 2016 as a retail bank with an extensive regional network based at post offices. The network has 25,000 branches serving 83 Russian regions, most of which are located at post offices, including in small and remote population centers. The bank has an active customer of 8.6 million.

When setting up the joint bank, VTB and Russian Post agreed that it would be controlled by the former, but due to the threat of sanctions, VTB deconsolidated Pochta Bank in 2018, selling two shares to Dmitry Rudenko, who headed the lender at the time.

In September 2021, VTB retook control of Pochta Bank, but after being hit by sanctions in February 2022 it again sold two shares, this time to Pochta Bank CEO Alexander Pakhomov. Pochta Bank itself was hit by U.S. sanctions in November 2023.