YEREVAN, April 20. /ARKA/. Russian-owned Bank VTB (Armenia) will open today in Yerevan its first office for providing private-banking services, designed for wealthy clients, chairman of VTB 24 Bank Mikhail Zadornov, said today in the Armenian capital.

He said VTB 24 operates nine private-banking offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as in almost all Russian cities with a population one million and over.  The first such office outside Russia was opened in Ukraine’s capital Kiev.
"The fact that the second office outside of Russia opens in Yerevan, indicates that the bank, which has always been focused on mass retail customers, is moving forward and we hope that this movement toward the wealthy and highly affluent customers will be successful", he stressed.

He said the office will provide a number of banking and non-banking products as well as personal service.
"The clients of this office will have their own personal account managers who will facilitate their daily lives not only in terms of banking operations, but also in terms of providing tax advice, “ he said.

Noting that the private-banking was induced in Russia  four years ago having attracted  a $6 billion in borrowed funds, Zadornov expressed confidence that in Armenia this business will be in demand too and will be profitable.
"Armenian market has a sufficient number of wealthy customers who will benefit from such services. For us, it is important that the number of clients allows recouping the establishment and maintenance of the office,’ he said.
VTB Bank (Armenia) is fully owned by Russian financial group VTB. It operates 68 branches in Armenia.  -0-