Russian Standard Inks Deal for AIS Bank.

Russian Standard, one of Russia’s biggest retail lenders, has signed a deal to buy one of Ukraine’s smallest banks, Avtoinveststroybank (AIS Bank), according to the latter’s current owner. With assets of $8.4m, AIS Bank ranks #163 in Ukraine. The price was not disclosed. Alexander Viktorov: We think this is only a first step for Russian Standard, which is eager to get into Ukraine’s coming retail lending boom