# Donau Bank

Donau Bank AG was a bank in Vienna, Austria controlled by the Soviet Union and later, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, by Russia.
On 30 May 2001, Donau Bank was acquired by Russian VTB Bank, which was headed by Yury Ponomarev. In 2006 the name was changed to VTB Bank (Austria) AG. With $1 billion in capital in March 2011, VTB Bank (Austria) AG, based in Vienna, was the largest European commercial bank of the Russian VTB Bank. On December 29, 2017, VTB Group completed restructuring its European operations. VTB Bank (Austria) AG, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG und VTB Bank (France) SA, were merged into the newly created VTB Bank (Europe) SE (Frankfurt), which operates under a single banking license. Since that restructuring, VTB Bank (Europe) SE has the branch in Austria.

## History

* 1974 - Donau Bank AG is jointly founded in Vienna by the USSR State Bank and the Foreign Trade Bank of the USSR.
* 1987 to 20 November 1990 - Donau Bank AG is headed by Andrey Akimov. From 1989 to 1991, Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev (Russian: Александр Иванович Медведев) was a director at Donau Bank and was the managing director of the Donau Bank's subsidiary "Inter Trade Consult GmbH" (Austria). It allegedly serviced very large debts of Bulgaria and, which the Austrian Die Presse wrote at the time, was "adherence to an overly expansive business strategy." In the spring of 1990, Bulgaria declared a moratorium on servicing its external debt.
* 1990 - SOVLINK-American Corporation (Russian: ИК «Совлинк»), which specialized in the oil industry, closely cooperated with TNK and was owned by CB Alba Alliance LLC (Russian: ООО КБ «Альба Альянс»), was established in New York by the American consulting firm Salomon Brothers, Sedgwick, Phibra Energy, plus the Soviet foreign Donau Bank and the state-owned Russian foreign economic association SovFinTrade (Russian: российским внешнеэкономическим объединением «СовФинТрейд»).
* 1992 - The Central Bank of the Russian Federation acquires 99.97% of the bank, the remaining 0.03% is retained by the Foreign Trade Bank of the USSR (Vneshtorgbank).
* 1997 - VTB acquires a 51% majority share in Donau Bank AG.
* 2005 - VTB acquires 100% interest in Donau Bank AG.
* 2006 - In the context of VTB’s international rebranding program, Donau Bank AG is renamed VTB Bank (Austria) AG.
* 2007 - VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG and VTB Bank (France) SA are placed under VTB Bank (Austria) AG and together form a subgroup of the VTB Group.
* 2011 - Launch of VTB Direct Bank in Germany
* 2017 - 2018: VTB Bank (Austria) AG, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG und VTB Bank (France) SA, were merged into the newly created VTB Bank (Europe) SE (Frankfurt), which operates under a single banking license. Since that restructuring, VTB Bank (Europe) SE has the branch in Austria.

## Management board

Donau Bank AG (VTB Bank (Austria) AG) had the following management board members:
* Valery P. Ipatoo
* Oleg M. Preksin
* Dkfm Otto Dracka
* Andrei Tchetyrkine
* Vladimir G. Malinin Chairman of the Board from December 1990 to April 1996
* Dr. Valeriy V. Lyakin
* Dr. Richard Vornberg (CEO)
* Christian Müllner
* Evgenij Minkin
* Igor Strehl (CEO)
* Alexey Krokhin (CEO)
* Simeon Nestorov
* Andrey Girichev (CEO)
* Andrey Skvortsov
* Mag. Damir Mehic
* Mag. Bernhard Schmidt
* Maria Minaeva
* Mark Airston
* Oxana Kozliouk