RUSSIA – Aurora Russia acquires Volzhski Universalny Bank

Aurora Russia has wholly acquired Russian Volzhski Universalny Bank (VUB) through its Cypriot holding Flexinvest. Of the £6.36m invested in Flexinvest, £4.52m was used to purchase VUB, the £1.87m balance was invested in the bank to cover post-acquisition infrastructure costs and fund ongoing operations. VUB will provide Aurora Russia with a retail banking platform that will focus primarily on retail mortgages, providing synergies with Kreditmart, the loan supermarket owned by Aurora Russia. The deal has been approved by the Central Bank of Russia.