Citicorp reopens Moscow office.

Citicorp announced. Thursday it had reopened a representative office in Moscow, marking a new move by the bank to expand its network in central and eastern Europe.

The bank joins Chase Manhattan Corp. and BankAmerica Corp., which have maintained representative offices in Moscow for more than a decade.

Citicorp has been rapidly opening representative offices in central and eastern Europe and in China to take advantage of new market opportunities that have emerged as Communist regimes have been supplanted by democratically elected governments or have moved to ease restrictions on financial dealings.

Commitment Stressed

The bank opened fully owned, local banks in Poland and Czechoslovakia last year and has had a banking unit in Hungary since 1986.

"The opening of the Citibank Moscow office is further evidence of our commitment to central and Eastern Europe -- a region that we feel has a substantial potential for growth," Citicorp vice chairman William R. Rhodes said in a statement.

Citicorp's interest in Russia dates to 1917, when a predecessor opened a branch there, but the bank closed the office after the Communist revolution.

Functions Are Varied

The bank opened a Moscow representative office in 1974, but closed it six years later.

The New Moscow representative office will be used to help Russian companies develop trade, support multinationals in the Russian market, and develop relationship with local financial institutions.

George Skouras, previously a member of the bank's equity investments department in New York, has been named head of the Moscow office.

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