‘Some businesses closely connected with Probusinessbank bought over 90% of Bank24.ru’s shares, of which 20% were acquired by Probusinessbank itself and the remaining amount by the other members of Life Group,’ Probusinessbank’s Vice President Grigory Galitskikh says.

‘The transaction was carried out in the early hours of December 5, 2008. The trilateral agreement, the third party being the Deposit Insurance Agency, had been signed the day before. The decision regarding the bank’s capital was made by the bank’s BOD,’ he adds.

‘The bank is to join Life Group. The future of Bank24.ru’s brand and its current management team is still unclear. These issues will have to be settled within the next three days,’ the executive explains.