"We plan to raise the question of VTB's additional share placement at a government meeting Thursday. Additional shares worth 90-120 billion rubles will be placed on the open market," German Gref said.
Gref said the new issue, expected to be floated on the domestic market and, possibly, on the London Stock Exchange, aims to consolidate the shares of other banks earlier purchased by VTB into Vneshtorgbank's uniform stock, and to raise its capitalization.
"Today, the state holds 99.9% of the bank's charter capital. Following the issue, from 20% to 22% will be placed on the market and the state's holding will drop to 78-80%," Gref said at a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Cabinet members.
In response to the president's question about whether Russian citizens will be able to purchase the stock of Vneshtorgbank, Gref said: "There is no doubt. We plan the issue of VTB and Sberbank [state-controlled retail savings bank] shares in a way to ensure that the minimum price of a share is affordable for Russian citizens," Gref said.
Vneshtorgbank plans to issue additional shares and hold an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2007, but this requires a presidential decree on removing the bank from the list of strategic companies, which needs to be signed before the end of the winter, VTB Board Chairman Alexei Akinyshin said.
