Ost-West Handelsbank AG (OWHB) was founded in 1971 by the Soviet Union's Gosbank, VEB of the USSR and a number of allied trade associations with Andrey Dubonosov as chairman of the board.
[6] In 1974, OWHB gained stakes in Moscow People's Bank (London) and Wozkhod Handelsbank (Zurich) and Viktor Gerashchenko became the second chairman of the board replacing Dubonosov.
[6] On 9 May 1976, Igor Semyonovich Gorbatsevich (Russian: Игорь Семёнович Горбацевич) from Vneshtorgbank became chairman of the board of OWHB and Gerashchenko transferred to the Singapore branch of the Moscow Narodny Bank (MosNarBank) London.
[1][14] At the end of 1991, Ost-West Handelsbank had a DM 65 million paid-in share of capital.
[3] In the early 1990s, Sergei Nikolaevich Dergachyov (Russian: Сергей Николаевич Дергачёв)[e] became president of Ost-West Handelsbank after the former president and chairman of the board of Ost-West Handelsbank from 1985 to December 1993 Sergei Mikhailovich Bochkarev (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Бочкарев) left for work with the German branch of Inkombank.