Latest articles from Russia

Intesa to buy 75% stake in Russian SME lender

May 2, 2005

Banca Intesa, Italy’s largest bank, has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 75% stake in Russia’s Small Business Credit Bank (KMB), a leading provider of lending and leasing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Hansabank seals Russian deal

April 4, 2005

Hansabank Group has announced the successful completion of the acquisition of the Moscow-based Kvest bank.

Russia’s good news hidden by hysteria

April 4, 2005

Alarmist predictions, while unfounded, present opportunities for investors, says William Browder.

A better footing for the markets

March 7, 2005

Russia’s investment rating upgrade is good news for the bond market as Vladimir Putin faces the first real opposition to his government since his election to the presidency five years ago. Ben Aris reports.

All in the timing

March 7, 2005

A plentiful source of finance for Russian corporates with access to Western capital, syndicated loans are emerging as a domestic funding option.

Bonds prove irresistible

March 7, 2005

Russia’s bond market has been quiet after last year’s banking scare. But it looks set to take off again with a bang, as Ben Aris reports from Moscow.

Russian banks are reacting to growing consumerism

March 7, 2005

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.

Local knowledge goes a long way

March 7, 2005

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

The middle way

March 7, 2005

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.

Andrey Suchkov

February 2, 2005

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.

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