Sberbank has decided to enter the capital of the national rating agency being created, Interfax reported on Wednesday, August 26, with reference to a statement by the head of Sberbank, German Gref.

Plans to participate in the capital of the rating agency were previously announced by Unicredit Bank, VTB, Rosgosstrakh Promsvyazbank, controlled by brothers Alexey and Dmitry Ananyev , and the BIN group, the main shareholders of which are Mikail Shishkhanov and Mikhail Gutseriev .

Russian authorities started thinking about creating a national rating agency in the spring of 2014, when international agencies lowered the country's ratings amid worsening relations with Western countries and sanctions.

First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, in an interview with Forbes and Die Welt, called the creation of a national rating agency “an extreme necessity.” “In any case, this project is needed so that there is no speculation that some depend on eastern countries, and others on Western ones. The system should not be monopolized. What is happening now with rating agencies is practically a global monopoly, and any monopoly is bad,” he said.

On July 22, Interfax, citing sources in the financial industry, reported that the largest Russian banks could be involved in the creation of a national rating agency. The interlocutors also clarified that the first vice-president of Gazprombank Trofimova, who previously worked at the Standard & Poor's agency, could take part in the creation of this agency. The press service of Gazprombank then denied her possible departure.

At the same time, on July 24, the Central Bank officially announced that Trofimova will head the rating agency. The regulator said in a statement that it is expected to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2015. Its capital will be 3 billion rubles with an equal distribution of shares between investors in the amount of up to 5%. The regulator itself will not participate in its capital.

Sberbank decided to participate in the national rating agency