Economics
Russia Set to Grab Economic Foothold in Reluctant EU Member
- Sberbank, VTB to take biggest stake in Croat retailer Agrokor
- Planned debt-equity swap to eclipse decades of Russian FDI
This article is for subscribers only.
Two Russian banks are on the verge of taking a substantial equity stake of Croatia’s biggest retailer, expanding Moscow’s reach in a corner of the European Union that has for years tried to fend off Russian investment.
State-owned Sberbank PJSC and VTB Group are set to convert claims of about 1.4 billion-euros ($1.7 billion) in debt to equity in Agrokor d.d. after it tumbled into insolvency last year amid allegations of accounting fraud. The deal was made possible after Sberbank dropped a raft of lawsuits in a bruising battle to have its claims recognized. The stake, which has yet to be determined, will dwarf Russian investment into Croatia since its independence from Yugoslavia.