Russia's Sberbank announced the sale of its shares in Turkey's Denizbank to the United Arab Emirates' largest bank, Emirates NBD, in January. According to Russian news outlet Kommersant, the deal will be closed in the third quarter of this year and the amount of sale might reach $5.5 billion.

Citing Sberbank sources, Kommersant reported that the proposal is so attractive for Russians that "it outweighs the doubts of Sberbank leadership about selling a profitable asset.

"The parties hope to finally determine the price and get approval of the deal by the Turkish regulator by mid-April," a source told Kommersant.

According to the sources, Emirates NBD decided to acquire Denizbank as part of its international expansion strategy. Emirates NBD is the largest bank in the UAE and is actively developing its international operations. The bank operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, Singapore, and the U.K. and has representative offices in China and Indonesia. Entering the Turkish market is a logical continuation of international expansion, Kommersant reported.

Sberbank bought a 99.85 percent stake in Denizbank in 2012 from the Belgian group Dexia for $3.5 billion and the remaining shares are traded on the Borsa Istanbul. The bank has 738 branches and about 15,000 employees in Turkey and abroad. According to the bank's website, its net profit in 2017 was TL 1.9 billion ($476.58 million) and assets at the end of 2017 were TL 160 billion.