Translated material
Kostin and rake
In the economy
Kostin and rake
June 6, 2013 Maxim Blut
The blue dream of the head of VTB Andrei Kostin at least something to surpass Sberbank, it seems, has come true. According to Frank Research Group, on May 1 of this year, the VTB 24 portfolio, the VTB group of the VTB group, amounted to 105.3 billion rubles, which is 1.2 billion more than that of Sberbank. The pace of growth of portfolios allow us to conclude that VTB 24, having escaped forward, will continue to increase the gap. According to VTB 24 vice president Alexei Tokarev, in the last year or two, car loan in the retail “daughter” of VTB is growing about one and a half times faster than the average in the market.
The same Tokarev notes that the current leadership in this segment is a product of a targeted struggle for a market share, which includes not only a more flexible percentage “fork” with a lower minimum percentage that the borrower has to pay, but also less stringent customer requirements. So, according to VTB 24, vice president, the level of approval of applications “interest is 10 higher than that of competitors”. In other words, to those who were refused Sberbank or somewhere else, a direct road to VTB, which conquers a place under the sun.
For the second largest state bank, which, without sparing strength, fights with the monopoly of the first largest state bank, one could only be happy. If it were not for the data of the sequoia loan consolidated collector agency published almost simultaneously with the Frank Research Group, according to which, in the first quarter of this year, the volume of car loans transferred to the collection agencies increased by more than 70%last quarter.
This very impressive figure makes you look a little differently at the car loan market in Russia. Even if we take into account the explanation of such an impressive growth of car loans transferred to collectors, the banks began to get rid of delay in earlier stages, the data still indicate an obvious decrease in the discipline of borrowers. An increasing number of happy owners of cars bought on credit ceases to serve loans. The rapid growth of credit debt of the Russian population and the parallel outdated growth of overdue debt has long been the subject of anxiety of analysts. However, in the car loan segment, the situation with the delay is worse than the average of retail.
Whether the VTB 24 is somehow related to the VTB 24 market in the market of car loans with alarming trends in this market, the question is rhetorical. It is hardly a “creative approach” to assess the risks when issuing car loans to the largest player in this market did not affect the discipline of borrowers. It is worth noting that an adequate risk assessment has never been a strong place of the banking group, which is headed by Andrei Kostin. Neither during aggressive expansion to foreign markets at the end of 2007 and early 2008, nor during an equally aggressive game against the ruble in early 2009, or during the purchase of the Bank of Moscow. Over and over again, the greed or desire of Kostin to catch up with the main competitor has overpowered caution, and each time the state had to pull VTB out of the puddle, into which he slapped his minority shareholders on the mountain.
To believe that this time it will end somehow differently and the state will not have to cover the next “hole” in the “system-forming” VTB, and Kostin will not find no reason to explain to the losses of the bank headed by him. Unless the alignment of forces in the opposing power clans will change, and the current chapter of the second largest state bank will be prescribed by another victim of a loud anti -corruption scandal.