Swiss Interbrand Abbreviated Vneshtorgbank Group for $2mln
Russia’s second bank, Vneshtorgbank (VTB), is expected to announce the launch of a new brand today. All banks that are members of the group will be renamed to VTB Bank before late this year. On the threshold of IPO, VTB has decided to change the name which is hardly pronounceable for foreign investors.
The market learnt about a forthcoming re-branding effort of Vneshtorgbank a year ago. The holders sanctioned renaming October 19, 2006 and VTB President Andrey Kostin will officially announce the launch of the new brand today, October 24, 2006.
As the new name is VTB, i.e. Vneshtorgbank’s abbreviation, the renaming will affect only VTB subsidiaries. The exceptions will be the Georgian subsidiary (which name will be spelled in Roman) and London Moscow Narodny Bank (just VTB Bank Europe without indicating a definite country).
Some foreign subsidiaries of VTB have changed the names already. German Ost-West Handelsbank, for instance, was renamed to VTB Bank AG (Deutschland) October 1, 2006.
Vneshtorgbank Group includes Vneshtorgbank (VTB), VTB-24, Industrial and Construction Bank (St. Petersburg). VTB has banks in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Cyprus (Russian Commercial Bank, Cyprus), Switzerland (Russian Commercial Bank, Zurich), Great Britain (Moscow Narodny Bank), France (BCEN-Eurobank), Austria (Donau Bank) and Germany (VTB Bank AG (Deutschland)). VTB is also a co-owner of Luxembourg East-West United (50.74 percent).
The re-branding concept was elaborated by Swiss Interbrand and cost $2 million to VTB. The budget is comparable to re-branding campaign of Russia’s cellular giant, MTS.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 24, 2006
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