Barclays shrugged off the political uncertainties swirling through Russia as it unveiled a $745 million (£373 million) deal to buy Expobank, a retail and commercial bank concentrated in Moscow and St Petersburg in the country's western region.

Although Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the UK's third-largest bank, has a representative office in Russia, the acquisition marks Barclays entry into retail banking in the country.

The deal came just hours after Dmitry Medvedev surged to a landslide victory in Russia's presidential elections, claiming more than 70 per cent of the vote over the weekend.

Mr Medvedev had been hailed by the Kremlin as the natural successor to Vladimir Putin, who must leave office having served two terms.

However, critics accused Russia's government of stage-managing the election, raising concern about Mr Putin's power to dictate political and economic events behind the scenes. Mr Putin is expected to be named as Mr Medvedev's prime minister.

The deal comes as tensions rise between Russia and the US, in particular over Mr Putin's attitude to Iraq. Russia's relations with Europe have also been strained during the past year as a result of its growing power as an energy provider to the continent.

Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has been regularly tipped as a buyer of Centrica, owned by British Gas.

"The reality on the ground is that UK businesses are operating as usual. We've only had a positive reaction to our interest in the country," a Barclays spokesman said this morning.

Barclays said that the acquisition was in line with the strategy of increasing exposure to emerging markets with strong growth prospects.

The bank expects to complete the deal during the summer. Expobank, which has 32 branches and net assets of $186 million, is owned by Petropavlosk Finance.

Barclays, which plans to invest in Expobank and rebrand it, expects to generate profits from the acquisition by 2011.

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