The Bank of Russia and RDIF announce join efforts to create a fund of non-core assets of credit institutions

St. Petersburg, May 24, 2018 - The Bank of Russia and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, the sovereign wealth fund of the Russian Federation) have signed a cooperation agreement to ensure the growth of Russia's trade, economic and investment potential.

A priority area of cooperation will be the participation of RDIF in a project to create a fund (bank) of non-core assets of credit institutions (the "Fund"). This is currently being formed by the Bank of Russia on the basis of the assets of three banks undergoing the financial recovery procedure: Bank TRUST PJSC, ROST Bank JSC and AVB Bank JSC. The Bank of Russia is working on the possibility of RDIF participating in the activities of the created Fund by investing in its equity capital, as well as RDIF representatives sitting on the Board of Directors of the Fund in order to carry out efficient restructuring and attract new investment into the Russian banking sector.

During the ceremony, Vasily Pozdyshev, Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said:

"The Bank of Russia welcomes the participation of RDIF in equity and management of the newly established Non-Core Assets Fund. RDIF has all necessary expertise in managing direct investments required for this project. The main goal of attracting RDIF to the management of the Fund is structuring of non-core assets, defining a strategy for their introduction to the market and attracting investors to the projects and assets of the Fund. This function assumes more managerial participation of RDIF, therefore it is planned that its representatives will sit on the Fund’s Supervisory Board. We expect that the participation of RDIF will increase returns from the management and sale of non-core assets and will help attract strategic investors to the prospective assets on the Fund's balance."

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, said:

"Involving RDIF in the creation and management of a fund of non-core assets jointly with the Bank of Russia has a number of important advantages. The high level of RDIF expertise in asset management, as well as the experience of successful interaction with leading international investors, will contribute to improving the efficiency of the fund's activities."