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Vtb

“Can Russia's second-largest state bank rebuild a full-stack financial operating system for Russian businesses and citizens after being cut off from Western financial infrastructure?”

Founded1990
HQSaint Petersburg / Moscow, Russia
IndustryBank / National
The story

Founded as the Soviet Union's foreign trade bank in 1990, VTB grew into Russia's second-largest bank by assets through a combination of state backing and aggressive acquisitions of retail and corporate banking franchises. Following its 2007 IPO and the 2018 merger with VTB24, VTB positioned itself as a universal bank serving retail, SMB, corporate, and government clients. The 2022 Western sanctions severely curtailed its international operations, forcing a domestic pivot toward Mir payment system infrastructure, digital assets, and correspondent banking within sanctioned-friendly jurisdictions.

Last 12 months
2023-01
Product timeline
1990
Founded as Vneshtorgbank, a state-owned bank focused on foreign trade finance for the Soviet Union and later Russia.· banking
2006
Rebranded to VTB and expanded into retail banking via VTB24 subsidiary.· banking
2007
IPO on Moscow Exchange and London Stock Exchange, raising approximately $8 billion — one of Russia's largest IPOs.· ipo
2018
Merged VTB24 retail bank into the parent VTB Bank entity, consolidating the retail and corporate banking operations.· banking
2022
Sanctioned by the US, EU, and UK following Russia's invasion of Ukraine; cut off from SWIFT and international correspondent banking networks.· banking
2023
Partnered with Skolkovo Ventures to transform the digital assets sector in Russia.· banking
Regulated entities
Universal Bank License
Russia (Bank of Russia) · 1990
VTB Bank (PJSC)
The stack
Payments / PSP
VTB Payments (self-operated)
Banking / BaaS
VTB Bank (PJSC) (in-house)
Card issuing
VTB Bank (PJSC) (in-house)
Lending
Express credit (экспресс-кредит) unsecured up to 30M RUB, 36 months, 5-minute decisionExpress credit with collateral up to 10M RUB, 60 monthsWorking capital loan (пополнение оборотных средств) up to 500M RUB, 36 monthsInvestment / capex loan (финансирование капитальных затрат) up to 500M RUB, 144 monthsOverdraft for legal entities and sole proprietors (ИП), up to 3 years, 60-day trancheCredit for marketplace sellers (Wildberries, Ozon, etc.) — express unsecured up to 30M RUB or with collateralSMB credit lines
FX & payouts
VTB Bank (PJSC) (in-house)
Accounting gap: minor