OREANDA-NEWS. January 24, 2012. RusRating has downgraded the credit rating of AKB Investbank (OAO) from BB on the international scale and BBB on the national scale (both with a negative outlook) to B and BB respectively on the same two scales, with a stable outlook.

The rating downgrade is due to the Bank’s limited sources of financing coupled with ongoing heavy dependence on retail deposits plus unfavourable media reports and growth not keeping up with the market average.

Investbank is a larger (by assets) private-sector bank that took on its current shape following an April 2008 merger with Grankombank, Voronezhprombank and Conversbank. In March 2011 former majority shareholder Vladimir Antonov sold out to a group of private investors, of whom Sergei Mendeleyev – the new Management Chairman – has the most influence over strategy and day-to-day operations. Loans and other services for corporate and retail clients are the Bank’s primary lines of business. Its service network covers Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sverdlovsk, Voronezh and Rostov regions and strategy calls for growth in retail plus small-business loans and services, both in new regions and in areas where the Bank is already present.