VTB 24 has taken over control over 9.09 percent of the shares of FC Lokomotiv Moscow, says Vedomosti citing a news wire by the Itar-Tass news agency.

      Earlier, the stake belonged to Transkreditbank which became part of VTB 24 on November 1, 2013. This makes the lender the owner of stakes in two rival clubs – FC Lokomotiv and FC Dynamo Moscow, where VTB controls 74 percent.

      The bank’s representatives have played down the conflict of interest saying it doesn’t run counter to the charters of the Russian Football Union or UEFA.

      Lokomotiv is one of the leading clubs in the Russian Premier League, currently ranked second but with the same number of points as Zenit St Petersburg.

      Set up in 1923, Lokomotiv has been nurtured and sponsored by Russian Railways.

      VTB 24 is the retail arm of VTB Bank, Russia’s second largest lender by assets. Classified as blue chips, VTB shares are among the most liquid on the Russian stock market. The Bank’s securities are traded on Russia’s joint MICEX-RTS Exchange and as global depository receipts on the London Stock Exchange under the VTBR ticker. The Russian government owns 60.9 percent of VTB Bank’s equity.

      VTB Group, a global provider of financial services, offer a complete range of financial services including retail, corporate and investment banking; broking and other stock-market services, insurance, asset management for pension and unit funds, leasing, and more. The services are available to clients in more than 20 countries across the CIS, Europe, Asia and Africa.