BNP Paribas unit drops plan to buy stake in Russian Standard Bank

PARIS, Jan 26 (AFP) - French banking group BNP Paribas said Wednesday that its Cetelem consumer credit unit has ended talks to buy a 50 percent stake in Russian Standard, the holding company that owns 93.5 percent of Russian Standard Bank.
BNP Paribas announced plans to acquire the stake in July last year, but the bank said Wednesday that Rustam Tariko, the founder of Russian Standard, and his group had not fulfilled their obligations under the terms of the deal.
The bank is pursuing legal action in order to defend its interests, and said that developing BNP's presence in Russia "remains a priority for the group."

01/26/2005 19:48 GMT - AFP