Читать книгу Putin's Russia - Группа авторов - Страница 40

The scope of state involvement and control in Russia’s banking sector is an enormous echo of the Soviet pattern. The government’s participation in the banking sector takes numerous forms. The main ones are as follows: (1) de jure state banks (2 banks); (2) state banks with full (100%) government ownership (5 banks); (3) state banks with partial (51–99% shares) ownership (12 banks); (4) banks with indirect state ownership (2 banks); (5) banks under temporary state prudential control (9 banks). The second (2) and third (3) categories are also referred as state-controlled banks in the Bank of Russia statistics.

De jure state banks are banks established by federal laws. They include the Bank of Russia (federal law No. 86 “On Central Bank of Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)” and Vneshekonombank (federal law No. 82 “On Development Bank”). State banks with full government ownership include AO “Rosselhozbank” (100% shares belong to the Federal Agency for State Property Management [Rosimuschetsvo]); Russian National Commercial Bank (Rosimuschestvo); AKB “Rossijskij Kapital” (AO “Agency for Mortgage Loans”); AO “MSP Bank” (Federal Corporation on Small and Medium Business Development) and AO “Roseksimbank” (Vneshekonombank). State banks with partial ownership are represented by AO “Globeksbank”, PAO AKB “Svyaz’ Bank”, AO “Vserossijskij bank razvitija”, Orenburgskij Ipotechyj Kommercheskij Bank “Rus”, PAO “VTB”, AK “BARS”, PAO “Sberbank”, AKB “Novikombank”, KBER “Bank Kazani”, AO “Gazprombank”, Khakasskij Municipalnyj Bank and AO “Ruskobank”. RNKO “Narat” and PAO “Kraiinvestbank” are the only two banks with indirect state ownership (shares belong to the state-controlled enterprises). Nine banks are under temporary prudential control by institutions like the Bank of Russia or Deposit Insurance Agency: Bank FK “Otkrytie”, Genbank, TRAST, Promsvyazbank, Avtovazbank, Rost bank, Aziatsko-Tikhookeanskij Bank, Binbank, Fondervis Bank (Edinyj bankovskij portal, 2019).

Federal law No. 86-FZ “On the Central Bank of Russian Federation (Bank of Russia)” established the Bank of Russia, granting it special legal status by Article 75 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The goals of the Bank of Russia are managing the ruble and insuring its stability, promoting the development of the Russian banking system, protecting the stability of the national payment system and financial market. The Bank of Russia is an independent special legal institution exclusively authorised to issue currency and regulate its circulation. The Bank of Russia in collaboration with the government of Russia is responsible for monetary policy and is simultaneously a macroregulator (macroprudential control and supervisory function) of the financial market. In 2000s, the Bank of Russia began decreasing its key policy rate. The rate was 7.75% in March 2019 and the current inflation target is 4%. The Bank of Russia was authorised to resolve problems in the banking system (rehabilitation, bailout of insolvent banks) in June 2017 via the specially established Consolidation Fund of the Banking Sector. It can now acquire shares, bonds, assets and liabilities of insolvent banks and resell them to new investors after financial problems have been resolved. The new resolution mechanism seeks to enhance the Bank of Russia’s supervisory control and improves market discipline.

The Bank of Russia is the main shareholder of PAO “Sberbank” (50 + 1% shares), the largest saving state-commercial bank in Russia. Sberbank has a dominant position in Russia’s financial market. In 2017, it had 28.9% share in assets, 32.4% in corporate loans, 40.5% in household loans, 20.9% in corporate deposits, 46.1% in individual deposits and 39.3% in capital. The credit portfolio of Sberbank is composed mostly of individual household loans (32.0%), petroleum and gas industry (8.9%), real estate (7.9%), metallurgy (7.5%), commercial trade (7.2%), food and agricultural industry (5.2%) and machine building and telecommunications (4% each). The top 20 affiliated client groups accounted for 26.4% of the credit portfolio in 2017, suggesting there is a bias in favour of large corporate clients (Sberbank, 2019).

Vneshekonombank (VEB) is the largest state-owned development bank in Russia. Its primary objective is to contribute to long-term economic growth. It provides financing for large-scale projects to develop infrastructure, industrial production, the social sphere and strengthen the technological potential in partnerships with commercial banks with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life. In 2017, the bank loaned RUB 2,695.6 billion, mostly in the form of project financing (56.3%), commercial loans (26.4%), securities purchases (8.6%), and export financing (4.8%). As of December 2017, the top 3 clients accounted for 28.8% of the credit portfolio, and another group of 10 clients accounted for 21.6%. The statistics reveal that Vneshekonombank is financing only a limited number of large-scale projects (Vneshekonombank, 2018).

Overall, the roles of Sberbank and Vneshekonombank (which is not a commercial bank) remain significant. Together with the other directly and indirectly state-controlled banks, they provide the lion’s share of financing in Russia.