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Vladimir Putin has approved Goldman Sachs’ sale of its Russian subsidiary to an Armenian investment fund, completing the US investment bank’s exit from the country almost three years after it first pledged to leave.
The sale to Balchug Capital for an undisclosed amount comes as western banks have struggled to secure sign-off for disposals of their Russian businesses since the Russian president launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Dutch lender ING announced its exit on Tuesday, taking a hit of €700mn, some larger players — notably Raiffeisen — have yet to make visible progress in leaving Russia despite continued criticism.
Russia has sharply tightened restrictions on business sales by companies from “unfriendly” jurisdictions since the invasion. Deals require state approval and must be priced at no more than 50 per cent of market value.
For some banks and energy firms, the rules are even stricter: under regulations introduced later in 2022, their sale must be personally approved by Putin.
Goldman’s exit, which was approved in a decree published on Friday, marks the end of almost three decades in Russia for the bank.
It launched with great fanfare in 1998, and counted former US president George HW Bush among the guests at its Moscow office. But Goldman had a relatively modest presence in the country, offering investment banking services in Russia while steering clear of retail clients.
Goldman now ranks 229th by assets among Russian banks, according to the Banki.ru platform. ING ranks 66th.
Goldman declined to comment.
The US bank’s assets have dwindled over the past year. In the first nine months of 2024, Goldman Sachs’ assets in Russia fell about 9 per cent from the same period a year earlier to Rbs4.95bn, while liabilities dropped 50 per cent to Rbs1.31bn.
At the same time, the bank’s net profit grew significantly, driven by lower operating costs and a more than fivefold surge in interest income. The main contributor was deposits in other banks, which have benefited from rising interest rates in Russia.
Balchug Capital, founded in 2010 by David Amaryan, has closed at least three major deals acquiring western businesses leaving Russia within the past two years.
It bought Caterpillar’s Russian assets in 2024, while the previous year it acquired the Pulkovo Sky business centre in St Petersburg from Finnish companies and the Metropolis shopping centre in northern Moscow from US investors, including Morgan Stanley.
“They have the right connections,” said one person involved in multiple corporate exits.
Before founding his company, Amaryan spent five years at Troika Dialog, one of Russia’s top investment banks before its sale to state-owned Sberbank in 2011.
Balchug was able to acquire Goldman’s operations while complying with sanctions because it is based in Armenia, a country that Moscow deems friendlier than the west, people familiar with the matter said.
Armenian banks, investors and brokers have emerged as go-betweens between western and Russian financial markets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions cut most ties between them.
