Sberbank not to be privatized before 2008

Russia's largest bank, state-controlled Sberbank, is unlikely to be fully privatized before 2008, Central Bank Chairman Sergey Ignatyev was quoted as saying. Sberbank, in which the Central Bank holds a 60 percent stake, holds about 70 percent of household deposits because they are guaranteed by the government. Deposits in other banks have no guarantees at all. But Sberbank will lose its government guarantees in 2007, the Russia Journal reported.