Rossisky Kredit Bank nearly went under in Russia’s 1998 financial crisis. Ben Aris reports from Moscow on how it weathered the storm and its miraculous comeback as an investment bank.
Rossisky Kredit Bank (RKB) is back from the dead. One of the dozen banks that were household names in the 1990s, but collapsed during the 1998 financial crisis, RKB is the only big Russian bank to have paid off all its debts and returned to profit.
RKB’s recovery is a damning condemnation of its peers, which walked away from billions of dollars in debt and left hundreds of thousands of pensioners destitute after they lost their life savings.

Having lain dormant since the 1998 financial crisis, Russia’s domestic sovereign bond market is suddenly the focus of frenetic activity.Ben Aris reports.

As the Yukos affair fades into a one-off event, both domestic and foreign investors are showing renewed interest in Russian equities and IPOs.

Kazakhstan is one of the leading lights of the ex-Soviet Bloc, with such well-developed banking and pension sectors that they are searching for somewhere to invest their money.Ben Aris reports from Almaty.
The trees that cloak the buildings in central Almaty provide only limited protection from the hot midday sun, but Kazakhs window-shopping in the new Ramstore shopping mall at the top of the city’s slope beneath the Tien Shan mountains are keeping cool.

Buoyant bond and stock markets, as well as legal complications, have discouraged project finance growth. But, as Ben Aris reports from Moscow, the sector is predicted to grow swiftly in the near future.

Russia’s banks have been working to boost their reputation on the international capital markets. Ben Aris reports on how their bonds have surged in popularity.

Mortgages could be the next big thing in Russia if the retail banks and the Kremlin have their way. 

Though it is aiding the general clean-up, deposit insurance is unlikely to change the face of Russia’s banking sector any time soon.

Gazprombank has broken away from giant parent Gazprom to diversify and build on its foundations, its chief financial officer Alexander Sobol tells Ben Aris.

Rumours of mounting bad debt problems in retail banking have led Russia to pass a law allowing credit bureaux to set up – but their proliferation is getting out of hand. Ben Aris reports from Moscow.