The public placement of shares of the largest state banks led to an increase in the capitalization of the entire banking sector, said Mikhail Sukhov, Director of the Licensing and Financial Recovery Department of the Bank of Russia. Sberbank attracted 320 billion rubles in the first quarter due to an additional issue of shares, as a result of which the capital adequacy level for the entire banking system increased from 14.9 billion to 16.2 billion rubles, Sukhov noted.

Until now, bank assets have been growing at an accelerated rate, as a result of which the capital adequacy indicator has been decreasing. By the beginning of 2004, it was 19.1% for the banking system as a whole, 17% in 2005, 16% in 2006, and 14.9% in 2007, according to the Central Bank. Sukhov is convinced that capital adequacy will increase for the system as a whole in the second quarter as well. After all, VTB attracted more than 200 billion rubles into its capital. Capital adequacy will be at a level close to 18%, Sukhov assumed.

It is gratifying that the decline in capital adequacy observed in recent years has given way to growth, says Uralsib Capital analyst Leonid Slipchenko. The public placements of state banks made 2007 a turning point in the history of the country's banking system, says Oleg Solomin, head of the analytical department of Petrocommerce Bank. He expects that other banks will also improve the overall picture - many will actively replenish capital through both public placements of shares and direct foreign investment.

The picture is not so rosy, argues Ekaterina Trofimova, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor's. In her opinion, the increase in the capital adequacy level to 18% is short-term. This standard continues to decline for most banks, and Sberbank and VTB are rather distorting the statistics, warns Trofimova: banks are much more active in attracting resources that are not taken into account in calculating their own funds.

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