Though such thinking is indicative of the attention bank executives are paying to their core businesses, steps are being taken that will change the playing field. Though it appears as bordering on counter-intuitive, most mid-sized banks are making a sustained push to drive up retail customer numbers as a means of cashing in on the country’s rising tide of consumerism.

Government intervention in the Russian energy sector is providing an unexpected fillip to local investment banks offering mergers and acquisitions advisory services. 

Reform is altering Russia’s banking landscape and, by leveraging innovation, entrepreneurship and product development capability, Russia’s mid-sized banks appear well-armed to profit from change.

vice-president, Vneshtorgbank
Andrey Suchkov is the head of Vneshtorgbank’s mortgage and consumer credit division and has a good claim to the title “father of Russian mortgages”.
Mortgages have just come of age in Russia and the business of lending money to people to buy their own home is expected to grow from the current $1bn to somewhere over $100bn by the end of the decade.

Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister, Russia

Russia’s finance minister Alexei Kudrin (right) welcomed the country’s forthcoming adoption of international accounting standards at The Banker’s Top 50 Russian Banks presentation recently, as Stephen Timewell reports from Moscow.

The low capital base of the Russian banking sector is a serious concern; it could hamper the country’s ability to achieve its ambitious growth targets. But there is growth.Stephen Timewell reports from Moscow.
The Russian economy may be growing strongly, with latest GDP growth estimates put at 5.8% in 2004, but Russian bankers are concerned about the low capability of Russia’s banks and their lack of access to long-term funds.

Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister of the Russian Federation and The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year, talked to Karina Robinson in London about the challenges facing the Russian economy in what looks like a defining moment in its path towards becoming a liberal market economy.

Despite turbulence in the banking system this summer, the overall forecast is good for the financial sector.

While Russia’s central bank had to rebuff talk of a crisis this year, a surge in retail and investment banking went unnoticed. Meanwhile, the crisis that never happened also spurred reforms, writes Ben Aris.