Alfa Bank: US-sanctioned Russian banking giant expands in China – CNN

Editor’s note: Sign up for CNN’s “Meanwhile, China” newsletter to find out what you need to know about the country’s rise and its impact on the world.

Hong Kong/London
CNN
—

Beaten Western sanctionsRussia’s largest private bank is expanding in the world’s second-largest economy.

Alpha Bank is controlled by sanctioned parties Russia Oligarch Mikhail Fridman has launched a Chinese-language website and support services. For domestic companies, statement Earlier this week.

The bank said in a statement on Tuesday that it also plans to open branches in Beijing and Shanghai, making it the first Russian private bank to open full-service branches in China’s two biggest cities. The move, announced in September, could help Russian clients do business in China. China “It will be even more efficient,” he said at the time.

CNN reached out to the bank for further comment but did not receive a response. response.

“Building relationships with China is one of the bank’s most important business areas,” the bank said in a February statement.

The bank is part of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest financial investment conglomerates, founded by Fridman. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and the European Union Sanctions imposed Russia announced sanctions against the group and individuals associated with it as part of a comprehensive punitive measure against Moscow.

The sanctions have hit Russian banks hard: Alfa-Bank lost 117.1 billion rubles ($1.44 billion) in 2022, a company report said. Annual Report That year, he seemed to recover, but a year later, Profit It is expected to reach 120.9 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) in 2023.

China claims neutrality on the issue of war but is strengthening ties with Russia on many fronts. Trade with Russia hit a record $240.1 billion last year, up 26% from 2022, according to Chinese customs statistics.

The two countries are also reducing their reliance on the U.S. dollar, with about 95 percent of mutual payments last year made in Russian rubles or Chinese yuan, a senior Russian official said during a visit to Beijing in November.

At the G7 summit in Italy last week, The United States and its allies Blaming China G7 leaders warned of further steps, including sanctions, to punish Chinese companies they say are helping Russia circumvent Western trade embargoes, accusing them of enabling Russia’s war.

Alfa Bank said in a statement on Tuesday that it was already working on it. The bank does business with “thousands” of Chinese companies, has high ratings from China’s leading rating agencies and has also been recognised by the Hong Kong Investment Association as “the most technologically advanced” lender, the bank said.