Chinese-Russian M&A deals seen surging

VTB Capital is betting that growing trade flows between Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States will soon translate into more mergers and acquisitions, according to a senior executive.

The Russian investment bank is steadily building a team in Hong Kong to help capture some of this new business.

“We’re seeing an enormous amount of interest from China in Russia, mainly from state-owned enterprises so far,” Damian Chunilal, VTB Capital’s chief executive in Asia, told FinanceAsia in an interview. He said there are deals already in the pipeline.

The Chinese sovereign wealth fund, CIC, bought VTB shares in 2011, followed by...