Russia's Sberbank to sell Swiss, Kazakh subsidiaries - Interfax

(Reuters) - Russian state lender Sberbank is planning to sell its subsidiary companies in Switzerland and Kazakhstan by the middle of July, the bank's First Vice President Alexander Vedyakhin told Interfax in an interview published on Tuesday.

"A representative of the Swiss regulator is now there. We are in a very fruitful dialogue with FINMA. We have a buyer and we expect to conclude a deal in the foreseeable future," Vedyakhin said of Sberbank Switzerland, adding that the business had positive capital and liquidity.

Kazakhstan's Baiterek is the primary contender to buy Sberbank's local operation, Vedyakhin said.

"Negotiations are going very positively," he said, adding that the deal to sell the Kazakh subsidiary could be closed before July 5-10.

Sanctions imposed by Western countries over Russia's actions in Ukraine have severely hit Sberbank's overseas operations. In early March it announced plans to quit almost all European markets.

Sberbank Europe AG, based in Vienna, is to be wound down by the end of the year, Austria regulators announced last month, after being closed on the order of the European Central Bank in March with warnings that it faced failure due to a run on deposits.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)