Aval Bank May Be Sold By December.

Raiffeisenbank-Ukraine intends to complete the deal to buy Aval by the end of this year. According to Raiffeisenbank’s CEO Igor Frantskevich the sides are currently discussing the price. Concorde Capital: Raiffeisenbank-Ukraine (100% owned by Austrian banking group Raiffeisen) started negotiations for the acquisition of Aval at the beginning of the year. Initially the deal was to be completed by May, 2005. However, the negotiation process was complicated and has only just reached the final stage. If the deal is successful, Raiffeisen group (RZB) will gain a leading position in the Ukrainian banking sector. After acquiring Aval, RZB’s banking assets in Ukraine will total nearly USD 3.5 bln which represents almost a 11.6% share of the total banking assets in Ukraine. In addition, Aval?s well-developed branch network with more than 1400 outlets, will provide Raiffeisen with a strong presence in Ukraine’s regions. In this case, Raiffeisen’s only strong competitor in Ukraine will be the current leader Privatbank. The bank is part of the Privat business group, which has assets of ~USD 3.2 bln or a 11% share of Ukraine’s total banking assets and the second-largest branch network with 1845 of outlets.