Absolute record

Banking business in Russia is growing faster than in other countries of the world

The Russian banking system in the past year turned out to be the fastest growing in the world. The rate of lending to the population has increased by one and a half times, and the real sector of the economy has increased by a quarter. Such data were presented by Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin at the traditional weekly meeting of government members with President Putin.

The capitalization of the banking sector, according to Mr. Kudrin, this year increased by 224 billion rubles, and assets by 3.6 trillion rubles. and amounted to 13.4 trillion rubles. “We achieved such growth rates two or three years ago, but in terms of absolute growth this is an absolute record. Our banking system is growing at a rate faster than all other countries. In fact, the entire banking and financial system of the country is being revived and getting back on its feet,” Mr. Kudrin emphasized. The rapid growth of the sector, according to the Minister of Finance, has a positive effect not only on the volume of loans issued, but also on the influx of investments into the banking system. As you know, this year several large Russian banks attracted Western investors to their capital. In particular, Rosbank, Impexbank, Promsvyazbank, Bank of Moscow.

“This year has been phenomenal for the Russian banking system,” Alex Kantarovich, head of the analytical department of MDM Bank, agrees with the Minister of Finance. -- Many banks had to urgently increase the size of their capital. And this happened not because of a bad life, but because of a good one: the banking business was growing at such a fast pace, so in order to comply with the requirements of the Central Bank, they had to increase their own funds.” This year, many banks increased their capital through additional issues, in particular Gazprombank and Alfa Bank. Next year Sberbank will do this, and for the same reason it will conduct an initial public offering of its VTB shares.

The main event of the next year, at least its first half, is considered by market participants to be the upcoming placements of shares of VTB and Sberbank. The head of state apparently shares the same opinion: for the second time in a row, at meetings with members of the government, Mr. Putin is interested in whether the shares of two state banks will be available to the population. “We need timely and complete information for people, for citizens of the country, otherwise they simply will not be able to use it, even if you work everything out correctly technologically,” the president told the Minister of Finance.

In response, Mr. Kudrin assured the president that citizens would receive all the necessary information, and also explained to Mr. Putin why Sberbank shares would not be available to the majority of the population. “We are interested that those who “enter” the shares of Sberbank, as opposed to any other bank, are people who understand the movement of the market and will not “exit” at any moment, under the pressure of some news, and will not reduce or will not significantly affect the value of shares and capitalization of Sberbank,” said the head of the Ministry of Finance, explaining the reasons for the decision of the bank’s supervisory board, which decided not to split the shares of the credit institution. As is known, only the splitting of shares could significantly reduce the price of Sberbank shares on the market, which now cost over $3 thousand. But citizens of far from the highest income can satisfy their desire to become a shareholder of the state bank by purchasing VTB shares. But the government does not believe that the same “irresponsible” citizens, when VTB stock prices fall, can sell securities and significantly reduce the capitalization of the credit institution. “In the case of Vneshtorgbank, we have fewer concerns about the influence of the market on its capitalization,” said Mr. Kudrin. This means that the majority of the population will have to be content with shares not of Sberbank, but of VTB, which is much less popular among citizens. It is expected that both placements will take place in the first half of next year - Sberbank shares will be sold in February, and VTB shares in May. However, these deadlines are still preliminary, as Mr. Kudrin said yesterday, “the final decision will be made taking into account the state of the market, the predictability of the market and the profitability of the placement of these securities.”

Natalia ROMANOVA