| The Moscow region administration has found a lender in Europe The Moscow Region Mortgage Corporation, which began implementing a mortgage lending project in January, yesterday began negotiations with the private Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria to raise money under regional budget guarantees. Mass issuance of loans for the purchase of housing in the region is not expected this year - the guarantee capabilities of the budget are negligible, and the mortgage idea is unpopular among the population. At yesterday's press conference, both the General Director of the Mortgage Corporation of the Moscow Region, Vladimir Maltsev, and the legal adviser to the Spanish banking group, Rafael Sanz Company, chose not to talk about the size of the Spanish loan and its cost. All this will be the subject of negotiations today and tomorrow. The regional budget provides 100 million rubles for mortgage needs this year, and it can be assumed that if negotiations are successful, the Spaniards will be able to provide a loan of approximately $3 million.
Chairman of the Duma Commission on Mortgage Lending Ivan Grachev told the Vremya Novostei newspaper that some “Canadian businessmen recently negotiated to provide a mortgage loan to the Russian side at 4% per annum. Perhaps the Spaniards will invest money under the same conditions.” Moreover, according to Mr. Sanz, in Spain his banking group lends to borrowers for the purpose of purchasing housing at exactly 4%.
The Moscow Region Mortgage Corporation, created more than a year ago (51% of the shares belongs to the regional government, the rest belongs to 14 municipalities of the region, the authorized capital is 50 million rubles), according to Vladimir Maltsev, has not yet issued a single loan - the charter provides for borrowers accumulation period of at least six months. During this time, in order to get a loan, you need to save up half the cost of the apartment. The corporation also accepts the potential borrower's existing housing as a down payment. Mr. Maltsev considers the main clients of the corporation to be residents of the Moscow region who want to move from a smaller apartment to a larger one. Increasing an apartment by one room in the Moscow region, where 1 sq. meter costs 350-400 dollars, it will cost about 6 thousand dollars. According to the head of the corporation, loans in the amount of 160-180 thousand rubles will become the most popular. At the same time, savings of members of cooperatives will be accrued annually at the rate of 8% in foreign currency, and loans will be issued at 10% in foreign currency for five years. Housing will be built by housing construction cooperatives created under the auspices of the corporation.
According to Mr. Maltsev, the Spanish loan can be used to refinance mortgage loans that will be issued to their members by credit cooperatives, also created under the control of the corporation. The bonds of the mortgage corporation, which are expected to be issued for the amount of mortgages purchased from cooperatives, will be offered to the same Spanish bank at approximately 6% per annum in foreign currency, the head of the corporation concluded. Mr. Maltsev is confident that the safety of the funds of the population who invests in cooperatives will be guaranteed.
Ivan Grachev has a different opinion. According to him, in its current form, the legislation does not guarantee the borrower the safety of invested funds. “The Law “On Credit Consumer Cooperatives of Citizens,” on the basis of which the leaders of the Moscow Region Mortgage Corporation act, does not apply to mortgages in their pure form,” Mr. Grachev told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. According to him, guarantees for borrowers will be provided by the law on construction savings banks, the draft of which will be submitted to the State Duma no earlier than May.
However, as Mr. Maltsev added, the Spaniards were not in a wedge of light: “We have the opportunity to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars on the domestic market.” Vladislav DOLGOV |
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