Banque Commerciale pour l'Europe du Nord – Eurobank

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Banque Commerciale pour l’Europe du Nord (BCEN) or Banque Commerciale pour l'Europe du Nord – Eurobank (BCEN-Eurobank) was a Soviet-controlled bank in Paris,[1] founded in 1921 by wealthy Russian emigres who, in 1925, sold their stakes to the USSR. It maintained correspondent accounts with Western banks to secure lines of credit for facilitating Communist imports into that country in which the correspondent account is located. Also, these correspondent accounts performed foreign currency exchange for the Kremlin.[2]

History[]

During the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet and numerous foreign sources referred to this bank as the Aero Bank (Russian: «Аеробанк») or Airbank in Paris (Russian: «Эйробанк» в Париже) and not the Aero-Bank SA which was a branch of the German bank Aerobank, which was known as the Bank der Deutschen Luftfahrt AG (BDL), and established in Paris by Nazi Germany during its occupation.[3]

The Soviet Union used the bank to manage Spain's gold reserves during the Spanish Civil War.[4]

After the fall of the Soviet Union, many persons involved with BCEN-Eurobank became leaders in Russian economy, banking, and finance.[5]

The 1993 established Moscow bank "Evrofinance" was a subsidiary of Eurobank.[6]

During the 1990s, BCEN - Eurobank was involved in the looting of Russia.[7]

In 2005, Russia's Vneshtorgbank became the major shareholder. Later, Vneshtorgbank changed its name to VTB Bank, and BCEN-EUROBANK name was changed to VTB Bank (France) SA.

Key people[]

  • Thomas Alibegov, Director General (1982–1987)[3][8]
  • Yury Ponomaryov, CEO, Chairman of the Board of Directors (1988-1998)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ The piratization of Russia: Russian reform goes awry. Marshall I. Goldman.
  2. ^ Intelligence Report Soviet-owned Banks in the West
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Томас Иванович Алибегов: Последовало мнение, что мне в советской банковской системе не место!" [Tomas Ivanovich Alibegov: There was an opinion that I had no place in the Soviet banking system!] (PDF). Экономическая Летопись России (Economic Chronicle Russia) (in Russian). April 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Stalin and the Spanish Civil War".
  5. ^ "Виктор Константинович Якунин: Нашим возможностям соответствовал, Ost-West Handelsbank" [Victor Konstantinovich Yakunin: Our capabilities matched, Ost-West Handelsbank] (PDF). letopis.org (in Russian). pp. 2-3 (pages 459-460). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Пономарёв Юрий Валентинович" [Ponomaryov Yury Valentinovich]. Экономическая Летопись России (Economic Chronicle Russia) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  7. ^ Powell, Bill (28 March 1999). "Follow the Money". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Алибегов Томас Иванович" [Tomas Ivanovich Alibegov]. Экономическая Летопись России (Economic Chronicle Russia) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2021.


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