German Gref on the prospects for the Russian economy

In an interview with Kommersant FM columnist Konstantin Eggert, Sberbank of Russia President German Gref discussed the situation in the eurozone, shared his impressions of the PEF 2012 and spoke about the prospects for the development of the economy and the banking system.

— Why are you so interested in crowdsourcing?

— Because, firstly, I think a lot about how to resolve the managerial impasses that we are now seeing in the world, and in our country, including. And I don’t see any other tool that would be available now in terms of using new technologies in management other than crowdsourcing. And our experience of using crowdsourcing at Sberbank proves this. This has already given us approximately $1 billion in net profit.

— You talk about dead ends and problems of the world. At the forum there is talk about the waves of the crisis, about how Russia is or is not experiencing it. In your opinion, how does the current situation related to the eurozone crisis affect the Russian economy, and how will it affect it? Do you expect a recession? For example, former Prime Minister Kudrin claims that by the end of the year it will be very bad.

— Firstly, the influence of the eurozone on our economy is very great, because Europe is our largest trading partner, almost 50% of our total trade turnover is from Europe. And if the situation in Europe develops negatively, it will certainly affect us. Whether there will be a recession and what will happen at the end of the year - I do not undertake to predict. The situation is developing in a complex manner. This scenario is possible. But you know, I have been wrong in my own forecasts so many times that I do not undertake to predict. It is quite possible that nothing tragic will happen.

— There were a lot of statements made at the forum. Including First Deputy Prime Minister Shuvalov about the need to live within one’s means, which, in essence, means not increasing social spending. Nevertheless, your bank is one of the largest systemically important banks and, in general, socially responsible banks in Russia, simply by virtue of the number of deposits and state employees that you, as they say, are servicing. What is your feeling about the extent to which this is compatible – calls to reduce and keep costs under control and the current policy, which pays great attention to the social sphere?

- You know, it seems to me that, firstly, there is no dilemma - we have no choice, we do not have the money to expand the country’s spending. If we continue to expand spending, then all the gloomy forecasts that some analysts make will certainly come true. Now we need to reduce expenses, and not increase them, unfortunately. And we need to approach this very responsibly, because our budget is far from the most effective. It's no secret that a lot of money is spent inefficiently, that corruption is rampant, and that huge amounts of money are simply stolen. Therefore, it seems to me that through optimization it is possible to find new opportunities, new sources, in some new areas of spending, if necessary.

— What will Sberbank offer in the coming years to clients and individuals, what new things to expect? Electronic banking is already coming into life today. What's next?

“I can only tell you one thing: we are very devoted to our clients, we will try to do everything to please our clients. We make most of our money from Russian corporations. But we understand that the main component of our image is the quality of our work with people, and we will do everything to provide our clients with the best services in the world, the most modern services for the most inexpensive money. And I promise to do this to you as long as I manage the bank.

"We have no choice: we have to cut costs"