VTB: Primed to be a champion, performing as an also-ran

Buildout: VTB’s new headquarters in Moscow International Business Center

SOMETIMES LIFE CAN be cruel. When you’re hot you’re hot, when you’re not you’re not. Certainly VTB, Russia ’s number two banking player, knows all about that feeling. In May 2007, it was unmistakeably hot, raising an $8 billion-strong war chest through an initial public offering that tapped into bull market sentiment towards Russia and its banking sector at home and abroad. The rapturously received IPO was a crucial milestone on VTB’s route from being a Soviet-era foreign trade bank to a fully fledged universal bank, boasting leading market shares in the corporate, investment and retail banking sectors in Russia .