Rossiysky Kredit was established as a mutual bank in 1991 by ex-Prime Minister of Georgia, billionaire
Bidzina Ivanishvili and his partner, former
Russian Federation Council member
Vitaly Malkin. By 1996, it was the seventh largest bank in Russia, as measured by assets. In 1997 it was converted into a joint stock company. Because of the
1998 Russian financial crisis, Rossiysky Kredit became insolvent and lost much of its deposits. Before 1999,
Vasily Anisimov was on its board of directors. In 1999 the bank came under the control of the Agency for Restructuring Credit Organizations (ARKO, the predecessor of the
Deposit Insurance Agency of Russia). In 2003 Rossiysky Kredit emerged from restructuring and passed out of ARKO control. In 2011, Rossiysky Kredit became part of the Russian bank deposit insurance system. In 2012, Bidzina Ivanishvili sold 99.61% of shares in the bank to a group of investors headed by Anatoly Motylev. Examinations carried out on the eve of the Central Bank's license revocation found that the bank's funds were applied in the interests of owners and related companies, and that more than half of the loan portfolio consisted of doubtful debts. ==Notes==