Published: June 3, 2010
Investment group takes minority stake in US software specialist.
Moscow-based financial group VTB has taken an undisclosed minority stake in a US software engineering and IT consultancy.
The group bought a share of EPAM Systems through VTB Capital, its investment arm. EPAM has sites throughout Central and Eastern Europe with more than 90% of its staff working in Russia and Belorussia.
VTB Capital’s chief executive and president, Yuri Soloviev, says the deal proves Russia and the CIS have attractive investment sectors outside of the natural resources industry.
Meanwhile, EPAM’s chief executive, Arkadiy Dobkin, welcomed VTB as a shareholder, saying the deal “proves that global IT services providers from Eastern Europe are gaining recognition among serious investors”.