OREANDA-NEWS. Sberbank and GAZ Group1 entered into a Strategic Cooperation Agreement at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. On behalf of Sberbank the document was signed by Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board, and on behalf of GAZ Group – by Siegfried Wolf, Chairman of the Board of OJSC GAZ.

The Agreement envisages broadening of cooperation between Sberbank and GAZ Group in the area of providing high-quality, high-tech banking services, and Sberbank’s participation in GAZ Group’s investment projects, with an estimated volume of financing of up to RUB 5 bln in 2016-17 under an overall credit limit of up to RUB 35 bln.

Additionally, the document states that the parties are interested in developing cooperation in a number of areas, including effective placement of the company’s temporarily available funds, implementation of modern banking technology for managing financial resources and products, comprehensive servicing of the company’s Sberbank accounts, and increasing the level of operational efficiency by optimising business processes and methods.
The parties noted that the Agreement will facilitate cooperation between Sberbank and GAZ Group and create a platform for completing new major projects and work to further modernise the Russian automotive industry.

Sberbank is Russia’s largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Sberbank holds almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit taker in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and principal shareholder of Sberbank owning 50% of the Bank's authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining 50% held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has more than 135 million individual customers and more than 1 million corporate clients in 22 countries. Sberbank has the largest distribution network in Russia with almost 17,000 branches, and its international operations include UK, US, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and other countries.

GAZ Group is Russia’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. The company produces light and medium duty commercial vehicles, buses, heavy-duty trucks, passenger cars, powertrains and auto components. The company’s primary shareholder is Russian Machines, a machine building holding that is part of Basic Element. GAZ Group incorporates 13 plants in 8 regions of Russia. It is the leader of the commercial vehicles market of Russia and occupies over 50% of the light commercial vehicles segment and around 75% of the bus segment. The flagship product line of the company is its next-generation light commercial vehicles, trucks and buses (GAZelle NEXT). GAZ Group is the leader among Russian automakers in creating eco-friendly types of vehicles, including vehicles that run on alternative fuels. GAZ Group is headquartered in Nizhny Novgorod.