Russia's Sberbank to target Middle East investors with #UAE subsidiary | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Russia's Sberbank to target Middle East investors with UAE subsidiary | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

Russia's largest lender Sberbank SBER.MM has received approval in principle to open an office in the United Arab Emirates to facilitate investment between Russian and Middle Eastern investors, the bank said on Monday.

The state-owned bank said Sberinvest Middle East would engage in trade finance of Russian exports to the Middle East and that the company's launch would create a link between Russian businesses and investors from the region.

Sberbank, which already has three million customers in 17 countries outside Russia, expects to obtain final authorisation from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority to open an office in Abu Dhabi by the end of the year.

"Last week we obtained an in-principle approval from the local regulator to open Sberinvest Middle East Limited, which followed an approval from the Russian watchdog," Oleg Ganeev, chairman of Sberinvest Middle East's board, said in a statement.