The situation in retail Bank lending is getting worse every month, and the Russian bankers see the problem is not the debt load of the population, and that entire categories of citizens basically do not want to borrow
“I don’t see the problem with the debt load of the population, which we are afraid of the government and the press,” said Chairman of Uniastrum Bank Alla Tsytovich on banking forum of Adam Smith in London. According to her, the problem with banks is that there is a whole category of people who don’t want to live in the loan. “The question is how to drive them in credit bondage that they finally become slaves”, she said.
Member of the Board of Bank of Moscow Vladimir Verkhoshansky drew attention to the abundance of information about the mass suicides of borrowers in the province. However, he thinks this is a speculation, and the problem, in his view, lies in the unwillingness of the state to educate the population. “For banks it is very expensive. If anyone needs to do this, the state government, then in 10-20 years we will see other borrowers,” said Verkhoshansky.
Speakers at the forum of bankers complained that Russian citizens are very short planning horizon: even a mortgage loan that the Bank issues for 20 years, the borrower repays for 5-7 years on average. “Retail loans citizens plan for a year or two, and we are interested in a longer term, e.g. ten years or so people passed on their debts from generation to generation”, – said senior Vice-President of the Bank Petr Morsin, referring to world experience.
The Chairman of the Board of Raiffeisenbank Andrey Stepanenko said that banks are becoming more interesting corporate banking business. “Large corporations have lower risk as they are close to the state,” he says. Perspectives of the retail banking business, in his opinion, vague. “Now 80% of Russian citizens get wages below 30 thousand rubles, and soon they won’t get more,” he says. Stepanenko said that during the stagnation of the people earn less, and therefore, banks have fewer customers, bringing money.
