Medvedev Turns Chair Round to Bankers
First Deputy PM Dmitry Medvedev met Russia’s top bankers yesterday to canvass their role in the national projects. Obviously not counting on the selfless involvement, Medvedev called for creating some economic incentive that would lure them in the projects.
Medvedev’s meeting drew spokesmen of Vneshtorgbank, Sberbank, Russian Bank for Development, Gazprombank, the Bank of Moscow, Alfa Bank and Uralsib. According to the first deputy minister, the banks may accelerate progress in national projects of top priority, including agro-industrial complex and residential construction.
When it comes to the agricultural project, Medvedev said, only 3.5 billion rubles were allocated to subsidize credits for construction and upgrading the cattle-breeding facilities vs. the demand of 70 billion rubles. The amount of 350 mortgage loans granted by the banks is expected to reach 108 billion rubles to 110 billion rubles by late this year. “The market of housing loans is enormous, and it will go up several times in future,” Medvedev specified.
Another concern is uneven activity of bankers in national projects and their focus on some definite direction. “In the agro-industrial complex, it is, first of all, Rosselkhozbank, in mortgage – a number of large banks,” Medvedev said, specifying that some other banks could be spotted only in advanced regions. “This situation should be changed,” Medvedev made clear, “not by administrative method, of course.” The remedy is creating “the purely market incentive” for banks while taking part in the national projects.
Medvedev’s proposals were hailed by Yury Trushin, board chairman at Rosselkhozbank, who had just talked over the bank’s expansion in the regions with President Vladimir Putin. “We should stage a credit revolution in the country,” Trushin boldly told the reporters.
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All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 30, 2006
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