By Maria Levitov and Henry Meyer, Bloomberg

The “political” takeover of Bank of Moscow by Russia’s state-owned VTB Group led to the biggest bank bailout in the country’s history to transfer government money to Bank of Moscow’s new shareholders, former chief executive officer Andrei Borodin and his representatives said.

“The criminal prosecution and takeover of Bank of Moscow are part of the same chain of the political decision to change shareholders at Bank of Moscow and to place it under government control,” Borodin said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.

by Guy Chazan and William Maudin, Wall Street Journal

The biggest bank bailout in Russian history was an “insane waste of money,” the bank’s embattled former president said in an interview.

Andrei Borodin, who fled Russia in March and is wanted by authorities there over a loan Bank of Moscow made under his leadership, said the bank “never needed state help.”

“The problems there are of an artificial nature,” he said.

by Alastair Marsh, FT Tilt Andrei Borodin, the former president of Bank of Moscow, which will be the recipient of the largest bailout in Russian history, is suing his former…

Financial Times

The $14bn bail-out of Bank of Moscow was a vastly inflated move aimed at tightening the grip of VTB, the Russian state bank, over Moscow assets, according to people close to Andrei Borodin, former president of the collapsed lender.

They argue that the bail-out was politically motivated and part of a carve-up of Moscow assets following the controversial ousting of Yury Luzhkov as the city’s mayor last year.

Reuters Bank of Moscow shareholders have elected a former VTB executive as their new CEO, effectively ending Russia's second biggest lender's battle for control of the smaller peer...

Reuters Major international banks Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse have bought small stakes in state-run Bank of Moscow, an encouraging sign for Russia as it considers a broader sale of…

Reuters Bank of Moscow, ranked among Russia's top 10 banks, said on Wednesday it plans to raise 20 billion roubles ($553 million) through a rights issue.