Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 15 June (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko encouraged Alfa Group Consortium to expand its presence in Belarus. He made the statement at the meeting with Petr Aven, chairman of the board of ABH Holdings S.A., member of the board of Alfa Bank (Russia), member of the supervisory council of Alfa Group, on 15 June, BelTA has learned.

“Taking into account our close relations, I mean the relations of Belarus and Russia, it is surprising that this powerful organization, this group like yours, with such financial opportunities does not have big presence in Belarus,” the head of state said.

“We are interested in further development and would like your group of companies to find its place in Belarus. I am ready to provide assistance because we want your group to work in the interests of both Belarus and Russia in compliance with all the laws and principles of doing business that you adhere to,” Alexander Lukashenko added.

Petr Aven, in turn, thanked for the meeting and informed the president about the development of business of the banking group, the cooperation with Belarus. “Taking into consideration our experience in Russia, we are especially interested in the retail market and electronic business. We have recently launched a mobile app and offer it to all our clients. In this regard, the Belarusian bank is one of the technological leaders in the entire group. Of course, we will work further,” he said.

Founded in 1989, Alfa Group Consortium is one of the biggest private financial and investment consortiums in Russia. Alfa Group unites independent businesses working on the markets of Russia and the CIS. One of the businesses is ABH Holdings S.A. (ABHH). It is a private holding company investing in banking groups in the CIS and European countries. Alfa Bank (Belarus) is an operation company of ABHH.