Nordea to raise stake in Russia Orgresbank

MOSCOW, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Nordea (NDA.ST: Quote, Profile, Research), the Nordic region's biggest bank by market value, plans to raise its stake in Russia's Orgresbank to 84 percent from 75 percent, the Russian bank's chairman said on Wednesday.

Igor Kogan told reporters Nordea would buy an entire additional share issue of Orgresbank worth 3.8 billion roubles ($154.2 million).

"The shares have already been paid for. After the issue, Orgresbank's equity will amount to 10.8 billion roubles and we will enter the top-30 of Russian banks," Kogan said.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has an 8 percent stake in Orgresbank. Another 8 percent belong to the bank's three top managers, including Kogan, who said he owns "over a third" of the managers' stake.

Kogan said the bank planned a further share issue in the second half of 2008. The volume of the offering will depend on the bank's needs, he said.

In November 2007, Orgresbank took a subordinated loan of $44 million from Nordea. The Russian bank has said it would take more loans from its parent company, but also planned to borrow from the market.

If market sentiment improves, it has said it could issue bonds worth 5-10 billion roubles in the domestic market. (Reporting by Yelena Fabrichnaya, writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Paul Bolding)