Johannesburg - Standard Bank Group
[JSE:SBK], Africa’s biggest lender by assets, will remain in Russia but it does not need a bank to advance its strategy in the European country, its chief executive said on Thursday.
Standard Bank, which owns 36.4% in Russia’s Troika Dialog, said earlier it no longer plans to buy or build more businesses in markets beyond Africa.
“We do not need a bank (stake) to execute our strategy” Jacko Maree said at the presentation of the bank annual results, referring to Russia.
Maree also said there no plans to sell its stake in its Argentinean business but were looking at optimising the business.