OREANDA-NEWS. May 18, 2012. VTB’s senior management attended the fifteenth meeting of the bank’s Shareholders Consultative Council, held in Moscow, to discuss VTB’s recent performance and future prospects with shareholders, reported the press-centre of VTB.

The meeting was attended by Andrey Kostin, President and Chairman of the Management Board; Vasily Titov, First Deputy President and First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board; Herbert Moos, Deputy President and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board; and Management Board member Ekaterina Petelina; as well as Mikhail Berezov, Deputy President and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board at Bank of Moscow.

Herbert Moos, VTB’s CFO, gave a presentation on VTB Group’s performance in 2011 and updated shareholders on the proposed dividend for the year. Following recommendations from the Russian government and shareholders’ views, and subject to approval by the General Shareholders’ Meeting, VTB will pay a total dividend for 2011 of RUB 9,205 million, or RUB 0.00088 a share, a 51.7% increase on the previous year in absolute terms.

Ekaterina Petelina updated the Council on the recent share buyback program, in which 74,302 shareholders took part. A number of Council members who took the opportunity to sell their shares at the price of the bank’s 2007 IPO and reinvest the proceeds to increase their shareholdings were very positive about the campaign, noting in particular the ease of participation in the offer.

Council member Sergey Gavrilov said: “The issue of buying back shares at the original IPO price, which has frequently been raised by shareholders with no experience of the stock market, has now been taken off the agenda. The program has confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt VTB’s high level of social responsibility to its shareholders”.

Bank of Moscow CFO Mikhail Berezov provided a detailed report on that bank’s financial performance and current activities. The meeting also discussed VTB Group’s management of impaired assets and the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders, which will be held on June 8 in the Russia Concert Hall at Moscow’s Luzhniki Sports Complex.

Vasily Titov told the Council that the AGM will be webcast live on VTB’s website for the first time this year. As is traditional, members of the Shareholders Consultative Council will be given spaces in the consultation zone to communicate with shareholders attending the AGM.

Finally, the meeting discussed the bank’s strategy for shareholder relations going forward. Andrey Kostin said: “Although shareholder numbers have fallen since last year to 106,000, we are determined to continue working closely with minority shareholders through both regular meetings in Moscow and the VTB Shareholders Consultative Council.”