The FINANCIAL — Andrei Borodin, the embattled head of Bank of Moscow, said on April 10 he had sold his 20.3% stake in the bank, owned jointly with his aide Lev Alaluyev, at half the stake's real value, according to RIA Novosti.
"I have sold it at half the stake's real value according to my perceptions," Borodin said in an interview with Vesti TV channel.
"In the conditions of semi-military actions, there are few buyers wanting to buy the asset, for which there is a serious and desperate fight," Borodin said.
Russian business daily Kommersant has reported that Borodin has sold his shares for 19.2 billion rubles ($680 million). The stake, however, is worth about $1.2-$1.5 billion, based on current market capitalization.
A politically-tinged fight for control over the Bank of Moscow has been going on since February, when Russia's second largest bank, state-controlled VTB, announced a gradual acquisition of the investment vehicle of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov.
The Moscow government sold its stake in the bank to VTB after President Dmitry Medvedev fired Luzhkov last fall over a "lack of trust.
Russian investigators have alleged that Borodin – currently undergoing medical treatment in the U.K. – granted an illegal $444 million loan to Yelena Baturina, Luzhkov's wife.
Borodin has said he has no plans to seek political asylum in the U.K. and added he hopes to eventually mend fences with Russia's leaders.
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