Egypt's Banque Misr says enters Russian market

Egypt's second-largest state bank, Banque Misr, has opened a representative office in Moscow to facilitate Egyptian investments in Russia, the bank said on Monday.

"One of the main targets that we set when opening the bank (in Russia) is to ensure good conditions for Egyptian businessmen who aim at investing in Russia," Mohamed Mahmoud Eletreby, the bank's chairman, said in an interview with Reuters.

Entering the Russian market is a rare move for a foreign lender. Most of the foreign banks opened their Russian branches before the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Since 2014, when the West imposed sanctions against Moscow for its annexation of Crimea and support of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, the inflow of foreign banks into Russia has dried up.