Hellenic Bank inaugurates Moscow unit

The Hellenic Bank inaugurated the premises of its Moscow subsidiary, CB Hellenic Bank LLC, during a ceremony conducted by Petr Kuprikov, Deputy Head of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and Vice President of the Greece and Cyprus Friendship Association, in the presence of Bishop Georgios of Paphos and Bishop Athanasios of Cyrene.
After the blessing ceremony, Dr. Andreas Panayiotou, Chairman of the Hellenic Bank Group referred to the factors that contributed to the decision for the expansion of its operations in Russia.
“For Cyprus and the Cypriot people Russia is their own place, a place they love. For Russia Cyprus is a second mother-country that instills trust, respect and interest,” he said.
Dr. Panayiotou said that the expansion in Moscow is a landmark decision for Hellenic Bank, serving the needs of Russian and Cypriot entrepreneurs operating in both countries.
Group CEO Makis Keravnos said that the relationship of Hellenic Bank Group with Russia, the Russian economy and the Russian business world, has been close for the last 13 years.
He said the bank has two Representative Offices in the Russian Federation, one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg.
Keravnos said that Russia has entered a period of economic recovery and that economic indicators show an ever increasing rate of consumer demand and investment activity. The dynamism of Russian business and the economy of the country is reflected through remarkable growth rates in conditions of global economic recession. In 2010 the rate of growth of the Russian economy was 3.7%, while this year it is expected to be even higher and reach 4.2%, whereas estimates indicate that the GDP shall reach 5.2%.