Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
VTB plans to open a branch in Iran but will wait for hostilities to end. The bank is analyzing the situation as Iran becomes a key trading partner.
ST.PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russia's second largest lender VTB still plans to open a branch in Iran, but will wait for hostilities between Israel and Tehran to end and is analysing the situation, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said on Thursday.
VTB, which is under Western sanctions, opened a representative office in Iran in 2023 and has applied for a banking licence.
Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran on Thursday and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital overnight, as the week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an off-ramp.
"We do not know, nobody knows how the situation will develop there. We are analysing the situation," Kostin told reporters on the sidelines of Russia's biggest economic forum in St. Petersburg.
"We applied for a licence, now we will wait, we will not take any action," Kostin said. "We are not in a hurry, let the shooting stop first."
Kostin said that Iran had become a significant trading partner for Russia in recent years, but that doing business there was difficult.
"We saw that there is a substantial business there, but it is not an easy place for business. The currency regulation there is very complex," Kostin said.
A Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) free trade deal with Iran took effect in May. Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, who visited Moscow in April, said that the free trade deal would increase bilateral trade to $6 billion.
Iran was the third-largest buyer of Russian wheat in 2024.
(Reporting by Gleb BryanskiEditing by Andrew Osborn)
VTB still plans to open a branch in Iran but will wait for hostilities to end. They are currently analyzing the situation.
VTB's CEO stated that they are not in a hurry and will wait until the shooting stops before taking any action.
Kostin mentioned that while there is substantial business potential in Iran, the currency regulation is very complex, making it difficult to operate.
Iran has become a significant trading partner for Russia in recent years, with increased trade activities, including being the third-largest buyer of Russian wheat in 2024.
The article notes that Israel bombed nuclear targets in Iran, and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, escalating the ongoing air war.
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