June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank, wants to add consumer lending to its operations in Russia to benefit from demand for loans and financial services as the economy of the world's largest energy exporter expands for a ninth year.

``We would be interested in having a retail banking foothold in Russia, but the right opportunity has to present itself,'' Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said today in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The bank currently offers investment banking, asset management and financial services to wealthy clients in Russia.

Ackermann, 59, has said that he wants to expand what he's termed the ``stable businesses'' of consumer banking and money management to help boost earnings by 2008. The Frankfurt-based bank, which last year spent 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on consumer-finance acquisitions in Germany, is also increasing such business in Poland, India and China.

Russia, the world's 10th largest economy, plans to be one of the five biggest by 2020, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told forum participants today. Per capita gross domestic product will reach $30,000 by 2020 and at least half of Russians will be ``middle class,'' he said. Ivanov may be a candidate to succeed President Vladimir Putin, whose final term ends in 2008.

Deutsche Bank would consider acquiring a consumer bank in Russia, though ``right now there is nothing on the horizon,'' Ackermann said. Prices paid for retail banks in the country are ``high, but if you look at growth potential they're justifiable, especially in the long-term,'' he said.

`Very Important Market'

The bank also may consider building up business in the country on its own because its brand is already well-recognized in Russia, Ackermann said. Deutsche Bank has about 800 people working in Moscow, after it bought out the remaining stake in broker United Financial Group in 2005.

Ackermann said his presence in St. Petersburg was a sign of ``commitment'' by Deutsche Bank to the Russian market, ``which is a very important market.'' He denied recent market speculation that Deutsche Bank may have suffered trading losses in Russia.

He said there was speculation ``that we may have lost a lot in Russia, which we denied.''

Deutsche Bank also wants to expand its existing businesses in the country, where there is a ``tremendous war for talent,'' Ackermann said. ``It's not that easy to find the talents you'd like to have and you may even lose some talent.''

`War for Talent'

Nicholas Jordan, co-head of Deutsche Bank's investment banking business in Russia, left in March after 11 years with the company to run Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s new Moscow office. He is getting as much as $7 million to join Lehman, said two people familiar with the matter.

Ackermann said that he expects Russian companies to increasingly raise capital through initial public offerings. ``I expect a lot in this area in the coming years,'' he said, adding that Russian companies will probably also seek to expand abroad.

About 30 Russian companies may raise $20 billion this year in IPOs and an additional $15 billion may come from as many as 30 secondary offerings, Ilya Sherbovich, head of investment banking at Deutsche Bank's Moscow unit, forecast in February.

Russian companies raised more than $19 billion from equity offerings so far this year, according to Bloomberg data, with Deutsche Bank ranking first among underwriters after being in fifth place last year. The bank helped manage this year's biggest IPO when VTB Group, Russia's second-biggest bank, raised $8 billion.

Ackermann said the decline in U.S. Treasury prices is a ``correction because of better-than-expected economic outlook'' and is ``good news'' as such. U.S. 10-year notes had their biggest weekly decline in more than a year this week as expectations that global growth is accelerating eroded demand for fixed-rate investments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elena Logutenkova in Frankfurt at elogutenkova@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 9, 2007 10:33 EDT