Baltic, Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Russia

"The bank in Latvia has almost always been profitable, it has rather sustainable positions and continues steady operations," said Kim. At the same time, he said he was not ruling out that the Latvian bank could be sold if he received a good offer. Another option is adding the Latvian bank to Kim's Expobank in the Czech Republic. No final decision has been made in the matter yet, he stressed.

"A single economic area and European Union regulations offer optimum conditions for merging European businesses," commented Kim, adding that this would consolidate operational and credit risk management. Igor Strehl, former head of VTB bank in Austria and former Sberbank Europe board member, will be appointed the new bank's CEO after the merger deal is approved by European regulators.

According to Kim, the decision to leave the Latvian market is not connected to regulations in Latvia, writes Vedomosti.

The newspaper also reports that this year Kim has expanded his banking business in Europe by signing a deal on February 28 on acquisition of Marfin Bank Belgrad in Serbia and Cyprus Popular Bank for an undisclosed amount. Kim also said that his group was interested in Russian banks and planning to sign one or two acquisition deals in Russia.

Kim acquired the bank in Latvia in 2012 when he bought LTB Bank, established in 1991, from MDM Bank. LTB Bank later changed name to Expobank. The bank in the Czech Republic was acquired in 2014.

Vedomosti also reports that other players, which belong to Russian businessmen, are considering leaving Latvian market. For instance, Konstantin Yankov, Vice President at the Russian group IST, whose founder Igor Tsiplakov has founded Rigensis Bank in Latvia, told the newspaper that the group was considering geographical diversification of its banking business due to stiffer regulations in Latvia.

"Banks that have correspondent relations with the banks in Latvia are put under greater scrutiny, in some cases payments are even denied," two anonymous sources told Vedomosti.