YEREVAN, July 17. / ARKA /. The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) said on Friday it had agreed to sell 80% stake in its Russia's subsidiary Uniastrum Bank to Artyom Avetisyan, the majority shareholder in Russian Regional Credit Bank. Artyom Avetisyan will also buy 80% in Uniastrum Leasing, Banki.ru reported citing the Bank of Cyprus.

According to the Bank of Cyprus, the deal will be finalized by the end of the third quarter of 2015. The parties will need to receive the approval of the transaction by the regulators.

"The decision of the Bank of Cyprus to sell its Russian subsidiary is part of its strategy to focus exclusively on priority markets and abandon unprofitable areas. The sale of the Russian assets reduces the potential risks associated with this market," the Bank of Cyprus said.

According to the BoC, the sale of Uniastrum will allow it to dispose its risk-weighted reserves, worth about 700 million euros. In addition, the transaction will enable the Bank of Cyprus to increase the capital adequacy ratio (Tier 1) by almost 30 basis points.

Bank of Cyprus had previously reclassified its Russian operations as a disposal group held for sale citing the deteriorating economic conditions in Russia. It acquired its shareholding in Uniastrum in 2008.

The Cypriot lender has been disposing overseas assets since suffering from its exposure to Greek sovereign debt writedowns in 2011 and 2012, Reuters said.-0-