Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the sale of the Russia division of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs on the 31st (local time), local media including RBC reported.
According to RBC, President Putin signed a presidential decree allowing Goldman Sachs to sell its Russia division to the Armenian investment company Valtug Capital.
David Amarian, the CEO of Valtug Capital, issued a statement saying, "We closely collaborated with the relevant authorities to ensure that this transaction fully complies with all local and international laws and regulations," noting that Goldman Sachs will play a significant role in the company's portfolio.
Goldman Sachs operated investment banking, foreign exchange trading, and securities trading in Russia since 2008. As of Dec. 1 last year, it ranked 229th among Russian banks in asset size (4.9 billion rubles, about 719 million won) and 148th in capital (3.7 billion rubles, about 543 million won).
As Russia faced sanctions from Western countries due to its "special military operation" in Ukraine, Goldman Sachs declared the suspension of its operations in Russia in March 2022.
However, as Russia tightened regulations on foreign corporations, Western banks had to receive President Putin's approval to sell their assets. With President Putin's approval on this day, Goldman Sachs opened the way to completely withdraw from Russia.
Earlier last month, President Putin approved the sale of the Russia operations of the French investment bank Natixis. The Dutch bank ING Group also agreed to sell its Russia division to the Russian corporation Global Development JSC.