In his words, the business loan portfolio has increased by 15% since the beginning of the year. The main drivers of growth are residential real estate, metallurgy and oil and gas.
“We have new long-term projects in our portfolio,” explained Anatoly Popov. “In addition, we help clients fill vacant market niches due to the departure of foreign players from the Russian market.”
The Central Bank raised the key rate to 12% on August 15. The main task of the regulator, according to the expert, was to stabilize the exchange rate.
“We see that this task is being fulfilled,” Popov said. “We expect that this year the official interest rate will be reduced, which will consequently make loans more attractive for all market participants.”
Now two processes stand out: the first is the replacement of foreign financing by Russian companies, the second is the departure of foreign players from the Russian market. As for loans at floating rates, their share in Sberbank’s corporate portfolio is now slightly less than 50%. At the beginning of the year it was 47%, that is, the proportion has increased slightly.
“Now it is even more profitable for companies to borrow at a floating interest rate; they expect a reduction in the key interest rate. Borrowing at a fixed interest rate is very expensive,” Popov emphasized.
Over the past year, a lot of work has been done to devalue the portfolio, so changes in the ruble exchange rate do not affect the situation so much. The most difficult segment is commercial real estate, mainly shopping centers, which have attracted foreign currency debt financing. But many companies converted their debt at preferential prices and are now paying the debt in rubles.
The share of foreign currency loans in Sberbank’s corporate portfolio over the past year decreased from 25% to 17%; Some dollars and euros were replaced by the yuan, in which corporate borrowers are keen. The rates on loans in yuan are much more attractive compared to loans in rubles.
“Our yuan loan portfolio now stands at about 90 billion yuan, it has grown 10-fold since the beginning of the year: the base was very low, but there is still a lot of demand for yuan in the market as a whole,” he says. Popov. .
Trade between Russia and China continues to grow rapidly, increasing the popularity of the yuan. Furthermore, there is no threat of sanctions and the market is moving away from the dollar and euro to currencies whose sanctions risks are minimal.
“The trading volume in yuan already represents 45% of the spot market,” says Popov. “In foreign trade payments, the share of the yuan is close to 30%, the share of hard currencies is also 30%, the rest is the ruble.” Deals between rubles and rupees have also increased significantly compared to last year. More than 3 thousand companies already use this tool.
Sberbank has always actively provided loans to real estate developers. According to Popov, now the balance of credit debt on them is 3.6 trillion rubles. This is the largest branch of the bank. “The proportion of projects that we finance continues to be more than half, 56%. The activity of the promoters is maintained, to this the incentive programs and preferential mortgages also contribute. During 7 months of 2023, more than 1,000 were signed new contracts with a loan the limit is 1.6 trillion rubles,” says the expert.
The mechanism of integrated development of territories is gaining more and more popularity. We hope that this mechanism will receive support from the government, we consider it quite promising,” Popov continues. The good news is that benefit programs continue to work.
The oil and gas sector is a key sector of the Russian economy. If before these companies attracted international financing, now they turn to Russian banks. “And we are considering your requests,” says Popov. “It is difficult to identify specific transactions, but it is more about replacement of external debt.”
Sberbank participates in financing operations for the purchase of Russian assets from foreign companies. A large number of transactions are being discussed, but few are being implemented, including because they may affect the ruble exchange rate. Sberbank recently became interested in the opportunity to participate in the financing of a high-speed line (HSR) between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
“The high-speed train is an interesting project, it is being actively discussed, but we cannot give more details,” Popov said. “We are also involved in a number of other projects. Sberbank is now very actively financing projects of economic adaptation, the housing and communal services industry, social infrastructure. In addition, we are the main financial partner of the Russian environmental operator, in the near future we plan to finance projects in the Moscow and Leningrad regions and in more than 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where innovative facilities for the processing of waste and solid waste will be created.”
The bank allocated a large amount of funds to the aviation industry. The most important driver of sustainability is passenger traffic. In June it grew 18%, in the first half of the year 25%. “Not a single airline has approached us to restructure its obligations,” Popov noted. “We, like other market participants, are actively waiting for deliveries of Russian airliners, primarily the MC-21 airliner. The segment is interesting for us, and we are ready to consider transactions to finance the creation of transport national air”.
The bank is actively working on the issuance of digital financial assets (DFA). “We recently did the first secured DFA transaction,” says Popov. “Functionality for retail client participation is now being tested, in the fourth quarter we plan to offer DFA to a wider range of investors… We certainly welcome the legalization of mining, because it is now in a gray zone “.
Next is the legalization of the possibility of buying and storing cryptocurrencies: now individuals can buy them, but they cannot do so without cash, exclusively in cash.
“Offering legal entities the ability to buy and store cryptocurrencies is a very important point for us,” says Popov. “And, of course, the possibility of carrying out economic activities abroad using cryptocurrencies. It seems to us that the emergence of this legislation lags behind the needs of the market. We have repeatedly heard that “The adoption of the relevant regulations will take held during the spring session of the State Duma. Unfortunately, the laws have not been adopted, we hope that they will be adopted during the fall session and this activity will be legalized.”
The daily volume of cryptocurrency trading in Russia is about 10 billion rubles. If cashless payments became possible, volumes could increase significantly. The potential for cryptocurrency day trading could be over $1 billion per day.
“We are waiting for a positive decision in the legislative sphere to start working in a new direction and we will be ready to support our clients,” concluded Anatoly Popov.
