Think of Russia, and the onion domes of St Basil's in Red Square spring to mind. Moscow is still very much the country's commercial hub and its banking centre.
But outside the capital, regional banks have quietly carved themselves an important role in the Russian financial system. The two Russian state-owned giants Sberbank and VTB have branches all over Russia and can offer better prices on loans, but local banks from Ak Bars in Tatarstan, to Orient Express based on the borders of China, and Center-Invest in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don can offer their customers a personalised service and a consistency that the big state banking giants cannot match.
