Enlarge image
Sberbank branch in Vienna: The deposit insurance jumped in for 926 million euros
Photo:
Roland Schlager / dpa
A branch of the Russian state-owned Sberbank in Europe was able to avert insolvency and is now being wound up in an orderly manner.
Through the sale of loan receivables, the bank can fully repay the sum of 926 million euros paid out to customers by the Austrian deposit insurance (ESA), the institute said.
At the beginning of March, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) ordered the bank to cease trading.
The FMA also appointed a state administrator.
The reason was an imminent failure of the bank.
The deposit insurance case was declared, the ESA stepped in for the deposits of the bank customers.
Customers »almost exclusively from Germany«
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), the European subsidiary of Sberbank had total assets of 13.6 billion euros at the end of 2021.
It employed 3,900 people and looked after numerous customers who, according to the Austrian FMA, "almost exclusively come from Germany".
The bank, like comparison portals, had long advertised the bank because of the comparatively high interest rates.
The deposits of savers are protected in Austria up to a sum of 100,000 euros.
If a compensation event occurs, the ESA and the Austrian banks have to step in proportionately.
Savings deposits that go beyond the secured maximum amount would now also be paid out to customers.
"Sberbank Europe AG is hereby continuing the orderly settlement," said the institute.
This means that neither the ESA nor other banks have to pay for customers' savings deposits.
According to its own statements, Sberbank Europe will also pay back the entire liabilities of 428 million to the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) and the ECB in full.
Sberbank Europe got into difficulties when the bank suffered large outflows of money after Moscow's attack on Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions against Russia.
Apr/Reuters
