Russia’s Bank of Non-Core Assets Trust (BNA Trust), which manages assets of financial institutions rehabilitated by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) in 2017, is on track to meet its asset recovery target two years ahead of schedule.

The BNA Trust was set up to assist the restoration of the Russian banking system. It planned to return 482bn rubles (about $7bn) to the CBR by 2024, but was already 99% of the way there in December 2021, according to an announcement by Trust Bank yesterday.

BNA Trust manages companies and assets in construction, oil extraction, engineering, agriculture, real estate and other sectors. It has a portfolio worth around 171 billion rubles, and the holding comprises over 30,000 staff.

The largest company under BNA Trust’s management is property developer Inteco, which made 58.6 billion rubles in revenue in 2021. It also owns some systemically important companies, like GEOTECH Seismic Services, RostAGRO, and the Poultry Farming Assets Management Company.

BNA Trust is ahead on its five-year asset recovery plan, and beat its 2019-2021 targets by 22%, with a net recovered value of 308bn rubles as of the end of 2021. 90% of the recovered funds so far have come from asset management, restructuring, and settlements with the title beneficiaries of failed banks.

Trust Bank demonstrates some of the best results among global peers, according to data from PwC. It has a recovery to market value ratio of 132%, compared to 58% from Spanish rival SAREB over a longer period of time.

“During the span of three years, we have proven our credibility by showing strong results that exceeded those of similar institutions abroad. Almost 90% of all returns came from settlement and asset management, and only 10% from judicial recovery. This clearly demonstrates the professionalism of our entire team and the effectiveness of our chosen business strategy,” said Alexander Sokolov, Chairman of BNA Trust’s Management Board.

BNA Trust now plans to recover 70bn rubles in 2022, and to hand over 54bn to the CBR.