Villa Foch in
Luxembourg City, head office of East-West United Bank since 1977
East-West United Bank (
French: Banque Unie Est-Ouest) is a bank based in
Luxembourg, established on 12 June 1974 by the
Gosbank, the
Soviet Union's
central bank.[1] It has been fully owned by Russia-based
Sistema since 2018.[2] The bank offered private banking[3] and corporate financing.[4] Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 the bank has had to surmount many problems. Unable to sell the business, Sistema took the decision in late 2023 to close the bank.
History
The East-West United Bank was founded on 12 June 1974 by the
Gosbank and
Vneshtorgbank, with the support of Luxembourg Prime Minister
Pierre Werner.[a] The shareholding structure associating Gosbank and VTB lasted until 1992.[6][7][8]
Beginning in 2001, the
Vladimir Yevtushenkov led Sistema gained a stake in EWUB.[16] Through Sistema's subsidiary
Moscow Bank for Reconstruction and Development (MDRB) (
Russian: Московский банк реконструкции и развития «МБРР»), which was established in 1993 with Sistema as a shareholder since 1994, Sistema controlled a 49% stake in East-West United Bank (EWUB) in February 2005 and, since 2007 Sistema has had the majority stake in EWUB.[6][7][8][17]
In 2018, Sistema became 100% owner of EWUB with Sergei Pchelintsev (
Russian: Сергей Алексеевич Пчелинцев) as the CEO.[22][23][24][25][26]
According to a declaration given on 18 October 2018 in Spanish court by Sergey Dozhdev (
Russian: Сергей Дождев),
Igor Sechin uses his offshore companies to control Sistema through
MTS and
Bashneft.[27][28][29][e]
On 27 June 2020,
Etienne Schneider became an independent director of Sistema and his close political friend
Jeannot Krecké was a director at Sistema beginning in May 2012.[30][16] In March 2022, Krecké at Sistema and Schneider at EWUB resigned from their positions on their respective boards after public pressure resulting from the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[31][32]
The Luxembourg bank was put up for sale once Sistema made the decision in October 2022, considered solvent with 10.7 billion rubles of assets and 4.8 billion rubles of liabilities. Bank assets were sold through 2023 creating liquidity however by the end of the year, it was decided to close the bank, with professional parties being given an exemption from sanctions to undertake a swift close down.[33]
Sanctions
Following the February and March 2022 sanctions issued against VTB and its subsidiaries which include the former daughter banks of the Soviet Union's State Bank
Gosbank and later the
Central Bank of Russia, EWUB in Luxembourg has become the principal Russian overseas bank in Europe after
Gazprombank's liquidation.[34] As of early April 2022, Yevtushenkov, Sistema, and its subsidiary East-West United Bank (EWUB) in Luxembourg have not been sanctioned due to
Russian interference in Ukraine,[34][35] even though some of the bank's directors resigned in early March 2022.[36] As of 2022, Russian billionaires are known to be beneficiaries of the bank.[37]
In November 2023 the bank was sanctioned by the
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sistema.[38] Authority was given by the US Department of Treasury to undertake bank wind down procedures until 31 January 2024, provided any funds recovered are placed in a blocked account.[39]
Head office
The EWUB is headquartered at Villa Foch, a historic property on 10, Boulevard Joseph II in Luxembourg. The villa was erected in 1891 for Alsatian businessman Jean-Henri Thierry and his wife Catherine Rückert on a design by architect
Charles Mullendorff [
nl]. In the final stages of
World War I, it was used by Supreme Allied Commander
Ferdinand Foch for his headquarters, from which it retains its name. The EWUB acquired it in 1976 and moved in the next year after renovation.[40] It was renovated again in 2010-2012.[6] The EWUB also maintains an office in a nearby building at 26, avenue Monterey.
^The Interindustry Commercial Bank for the Development of Wholesale Trade which is also transliterated as Intersectoral Commercial Bank for the Development of Wholesale Trade (
Russian: Межотраслевой коммерческий банк развития оптовой торговли) or TOKOBANK (
Russian: ТОКОБАНК) was founded in 1989 by the all-powerful
State Supply of the USSR (Gossnab) with its territorial branches, the
State Insurance of the USSR (Gosstrakh), the Administration of the Affairs of the
Central Committee of the Komsomol, the
Ministry of Marine of the USSR (Minmorflot),
MGA of the USSR,
Ministry of Montazhspetsstroy of the USSR, Agrobank of the USSR, the 1987 established
Sberbank of the USSR, commercial banks, many large enterprises and cooperatives (
Russian: Госснаб СССР с его территориальными отделениями, Госстрах СССР, Управление делами ЦК ВЛКСМ, Минморфлот СССР, МГА СССР, Минмонтажспецстрой СССР, Агробанк СССР, Сбербанк СССР, коммерческие банки, множество крупных предприятий и кооперативов.) In 1995, TOKOBANK was headed by Viktor Yakunin (
Russian: Виктор Якунин).[9][10]
^With Vnesheconombank managing Soviet debt, Imperial Bank speculated in GKOs but collapsed with the demise of the GKO market following the
1998 financial collapse in Russia.[14]
^Sergey Dozhdev (
Russian: Сергей Дождев) stated "The real Russian mafia is those who rule the world. In particular, it includes Igor Sechin, a man who took over Sistema through Bashneft and MTS using his offshore companies. The Rotenberg brothers, who control the Platon Company, are in the mafia too. 75 percent of Platon belongs to offshore companies, which the Rotenbergs use to siphon off money to
Europe. Arnold Tamm used to co-own Sistema. However, he had a disagreement with the Rotenberg brothers, and Herman Gref ceased the refinancing of loans through his son Arkady. The company incurred artificial liabilities, and Sechin bought it at a low price through offshore companies."[27]
^Vladimir Georgievich Malinin (
Russian: Владимир Георгиевич Малинин; 29 June 1940
Moscow,
Soviet Union - 4 February 2021
Vienna,
Austria) graduated from the
Financial University in 1963 with a degree in economics. From 1964 to 1968, he was at
Vneshtorgbank of the USSR as an inspector, senior economist, senior consultant, head of the foreign exchange and cash operations department, and from 1968 to 1969 he was the Deputy Chief Accountant. From 1969 to 1970, he was at
Moscow Narodny Bank Limited in London and then transferred to its Beirut branch and from 1970 to 1971, he was the chief accountant under
Viktor Gerashchenko and from 1971 to 1974, the deputy general manager under
Tomas Alibegov. After EWUB, Malinin returned to Vneshtorgbank of the USSR and from 1984 to 1985 was the head of the foreign bank loans department then in 1985 was the head of the department for monitoring the operational activities of overseas Soviet banks until February 1988 when he became the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Vnesheconombank of the USSR until December 1990. He moved to Vienna and from December 1990 to April 1996, he was Chairman of the Board of
Donau Bank. In 2012, he became an independent director at Vozrozhdenie Bank and served on its board of directors until his death in 2021.[41][42]
^In September 2002,
Yury Ponomaryov became a co-chairman of the board of directors, managing director of the Russian-owned East-West United bank (EWUB) in Luxembourg, where he worked in charge of accounting until 1 June 2005. Sergey Valentinovich Pavlov was a co-chairman at EWUB and was in charge of lending at EWUB. Beginning in 1990, Sergey Pavlov was an intern at EWUB.[47]
^Вачнадзе, Георгий Николаевич (Vachnadze, Georgy Nikolaevich)[in Russian] (1992).
"Журналы «Москоу мэгэзин» и «Бурда»" [Magazines "Moscow Magazine" and "Burda"] (PDF).
Секреты прессы при Гобачеве и Ельцине [Secrets of the press under Gobachev and Yeltsin] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: АО «Книга и бизнес» (K448).
ISBN5-212-00772-0. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)See page 186-187 in book in CHAPTER VI: PRESS FOR BUSINESS PEOPLE (ГЛАВА VI: ПРЕССА ДЛЯ ДЕЛОВЫХ ЛЮДЕЙ). The section Magazines "Moscow Magazine" and "Burda" is pages 186-192 and is in CHAPTER VI.
^
abСедунов, Александр (Sedunov, Alexander) (17 August 2015).
"25 лет Всемирной Истории с Банком Империал" [25 years of World History with Imperial Bank]. Information Agency InterRight (in Russian). Archived from
the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.{{
cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^"EWUB – Наша история" [EWUB - Our history]. ewub.lu website (in Russian). 27 April 2021. Archived from
the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
^"EWUB – Управляющие директора" [EWUB – Managing directors]. ewub.lu website (in Russian). 28 April 2021. Archived from
the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
^Менг, Марко (Meng, Marco) (20 June 2019).
""МЫ – УНИКАЛЬНАЯ КОМБИНАЦИЯ"" [WE ARE A UNIQUE COMBINATION]. Сноб (snob.ru) (in Russian). Archived from
the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2023.{{
cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)