Russia Business Directory

Banking sector in Russia is highly centralised and concentrated which might be explained by the heritage of the Soviet times when the only consumer - and for the most corporate - bank in Russia was Sberbank. 14 of total 1200 banks in Russia account for almost 50 % of all bank capital. Out of these 14 Sberbank has 25 %, while Vneshtorgbank - 7 %.

Banks with foreign ownership account for 12-13% of total bank capital in Russia. The Central Bank of Russia predicts that foreigners will account for 20% of the joint bank capital in Russia by 2010, if the present trends persist.

Major stocks in Russia’s 20 leading banks may be sold to foreign investors in the near future. Russia’s leading banks have advanced dramatically compared to 1990-s, and the stability in the finance sector is much higher. And this makes them attractive for foreign investors.

Among the latest purchases, there are Societe Generale which acquired a 10%-stock in Rosbank, Raiffeisen with a 100%-stock in Impexbank and OTP with a 96,4% stock in Investsberbank. Foreigners have also about 20% of the shares in Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank.


There are too many banks in Russia which are not really working as crediting institutions, but are involved in various non-banking activities, so that the market still has a demand for “real banking”. Capitalization process is still going on, and Russian banks are selling their stocks in order to increase their capital. On the other side, foreigners are very much interested in Russian banks, especially those having a large regional network.

The economic growth in Russia is making banking services more profitable and situation more predictable. Especially the consumer market is booming. People have more money to spend, but if they don’t, they can always borrow. In order to meet the constantly increasing demand, EBRD has recently opened a three years credit line of R2,1bn (NOK 525m) to Rusfinans Bank. The funds will be used for further financing of consumer and car purchase credits in the regions.

Foreign finance institutions are present in the Russian market also via investments. A good example is increasing activities of Luxembourg banks in Russia. Luxembourg has several years in a row been one of the top investors to Russia – mainly in the finance sector. The explanation is as follows: more than 100 biggest financial institutions of the world have their offices in Luxembourg, and many of them are turning towards emerging East-European markets. Secondly, there are many banks in Russia, but there are quite few solid banks in the same class as most of banks in the Western Europe. They do not have the same financial possibilities as Western banks – this is where Luxembourg comes. Neither Russian banks have enough experience with complicated transactions and new types of services. This is the niche which will be filled by Western finance institutions – to the benefit of all parts.

General information
The Central Bank of Russia - official site (eng)
Association of Russian banks - non-governmental, non-commercial organization (rus/eng)
Bankir – “The Banker”, comprehensive information source about Russian banking: news, ratings, analysis etc (only rus)
Sberbank of Russia – Russia’s largest bank, accounting for over a quarter of national banking assets (rus/eng)
Vneshtorgbank - one of the leading universal banks of Russia (eng)
Gazprombank – owned by OAO "Gazprom", one of the Russia’s top 5 banks by the main financial indices (eng)
Alfa-Bank, Moscow - one of the Russia’s largest privately owned banks (rus/eng)
Rosbank, Moscow  - one of the largest privately owned banks, on of the top 10 Russian banks (eng)
MDM-Bank, Moscow - one of the leaders in the Russian banking, with the highest in Russia ratings by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch (rus)
Bank of Moscow – one of the leading banks, also in Russia. The main shareholder is the city of Moscow (48%) (rus/eng)
International Industrial Bank (IIB) - one of the largest private banks in Russia, which ranks 389th in the Banker's Top 1000 World Bank (rus/eng)
Industry-Building Bank, St.Petersburg - the leading bank in the North-Western region of Russia, listed in the Russia’s top 10 banks in 2005 (rus) 
International Moscow Bank, Moscow – a commercial bank partly owned by the German HVB Group, BCEN Eurobank, Nordea Bank Finland PLC and EBRD (rus/eng) 
Deutsche Bank Moscow – one of the most highly capitalized banks among subsidiaries of foreign banks in Russia. (rus/eng/ger)
Evrofinance Mosnarbank, Moscow - one of the most profitable and reliable Russian banks; in 2001 it was rated by the Standard & Poor’s as the most profitable among 100 banks of Central and Eastern Europe (rus/eng)
ING Bank (Eurasia) ZAO, Moscow –  a wholly owned subsidiary of ING Group (rus/eng)
Bank Zenit, Moscow - one of the most dynamic and innovative credit institutions in Russia, listed in the Russia’s top 15 banks (by main financial indices) (rus/eng)
AKB Investment Trade Bank – listed in the Russia’s top 100 banks, 34th position as “Fastest developing banks in the CIS and Central Europe” (The Banker) (rus/eng)
Bank Petrocommerce – a part of IFD Capital Financial Group,  corporate and retail banking services, fund management, trade and export credit finance and leasing (rus/eng)

Norwegian and Scandinavian banks, presence in Russia
DnB NOR Monchebank - bank in Murmansk Region, purchased by DnB NOR (eng)
Orgresbank - owned by Nordea Bank AB (eng)

Stock Exchanges
Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange – holds the central place in the infrastructure of the Russian capital market. Operates the foreign exchange market, the government bonds market, the market of derivative instruments, the stock market, the market of corporate and regional bonds and the money market (since 2004) (eng/rus)
Russian Trading System Stock Exchange (RTS) - lists leading Russian securities. The RTS Index, the official Exchange indicator, has been used in Russian securities' industry since 1995.
St. Petersburg Currency Exchange (SPCEX) –one of the leading regional exchanges of Russia, located in St. Petersburg. The SPCEX involves participants of the financial market of Russia from over 60 regions.
St. Petersburg Stock Exchange – stock exchange, also operating with GAZPROM shares.

Other related sources
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - news and publications (rus/eng)
The World Bank Russia Country Office - news, publications and projects (eng)

Norwegian Banks - NRCC Member Companies
Nordea(eng)
DnB NOR (eng/nor)
Sparebank 1 Oslo (nor), corporate site Sparebank 1 Alliance (eng)
Sparebank Nord-Norge (nor), corporate site Sparebank 1 Alliance (eng)

Russian banks - NRCC Member Companies
Solidarity Bank (rus)
Globex Bank (eng)