The former co-owner of Promsvyazbank is selling off his Russian assets

Still in Cyprus, Dmitry Ananiev is reportedly negotiating the sale of his Russian assets. He fled Russia last December, after the Central Bank announced the restructuring of Promsvyazbank, which he co-owned with his brother. Sources tell the newspaper Vedomosti that Ananiev is looking for a buyer for his real estate development company PSN Group, his printing house Extra-M, and his agroholding company White Bird.

Just two weeks after Russia’s Central Bank stepped in to restructure Promsvyazbank, the Ananiev brothers allegedly unloaded 4.5 billion rubles ($72.5 million) of their own money to Vozrozhdenie Bank (another bank they own). Sources told the newspaper Kommersant that the transfer apparently took place on December 28 or 29, flooding Vozrozhdenie Bank with more money than its average annual balance. Dmitry's brother, Alexey, denies that the massive withdrawal took place.

What happened to Promsvyazbank and why would the Ananievs move their cash to Vozrozhdenie Bank? On December 15, 2017, Russia’s Central Bank announced the restructuring of Promsvyazbank, after discovering violations in its reporting and the destruction of credit history records. A week later, the Ananiev brothers fled Russia. Dmitry said that the Central Bank was imposing unrealistic conditions on Promsvyazbank.

Russia’s Finance Ministry has announced that Promsvyazbank will be restructured into a base bank for the country’s defense industry and major state contracts. Pyotr Fradkov, the son of Russia’s former prime minister, will head the institution. The newspaper Kommersant previously reported that officials were planning to hide Promsvyazbank’s top management from the public to try to avoid more targeted U.S. sanctions.