Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as the third largest in Europe, has opened a new modern office in Yekaterinburg, one of 1,600 it plans to open this year, bringing the total number of new branches in 2013 to more than 4,400.

The opening ceremony was attended by First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank Maxim Polataev, Chairman of the Ural Bank of Sberbank Vladimir Cherkashin and Deputy Head of the Administration of Yekaterinburg Eugene Lipovich.

The new branches offer self-service through mobile kiosk-based tablet PCs, eliminating the need to stand in line for a teller. The new "flexible" office concept also allows employees to change location depending on customer needs.

Sberbank began opening the newly designed offices in Russia in 2010 and plans to complete overhauling all of its branches by 2019.

Headquartered in Moscow, Sberbank's history dates back to Cancrin's financial reform of 1841. The bank offers a full range of savings, investment and lending services.