Page 64 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Russia Dec17

8.1.7 Banks specific issues
About one third of buyer of lower-end apartments in Moscow and the region are likely to lose access to mortgages in 2018 , reveals a study published by Metrium Group realtor. The change is expected to occur due to stricter rules for releasing mortgage loans, imposed by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), effective as of 2018. From then on, mortgage loans with a small down payments will fall into the higher-risk loan category, making it less attractive for lenders. The CBR's move was in turn triggered by the regulator's concerns about the high number of mortgage loans with a down payment below 20%, released in 2017. In January-August, the proportion of this kind of mortgages was up from 6.8% to 20.6% year-on-year and, according to the CBR, the small down payment is a sign that the loan is likely to turn toxic. However, the CBR's fears apparently contradict the fact that during the same period, the proportion of overdue mortgage loans declined during the same period from 3.02% to 2.44%, year-on-year. In Moscow region, the proportion of property buyers who take out low-down payment mortgages is between 20% and 50%, while the average size of the down payment is 14%.
In September, Russians took out about 100,000 mortgage loans for a total of RUB190bn ($3.3bn) , up by 40-50% as compared to the same period of 2016 and 20-30% above the pre-crisis level of 2014.
Damage from cybercrime in Russia are estimated at RUB600-650bn ($11bn) annually by the deputy head of Sberbank Stanislav Kuznetsov, as cited by Vedomosti daily on November 28. Accumulated global damage from cybercrimes currently approaches $1 trillion on the estimates of the World Economic Forum, according to Kuznetsov. The deputy head of Russia's largest state-controlled bank urged to revise the legislation and renew the technological base of the law enforcement authorities to minimize the risks of cybercrimes in Russia. In August 2017 two medium-sized banks in Russia lost about RUB800mn due to cyber attacks, Kuznetsov noted. In 2016 there were reports of a number of cyber attacks on Russian banks that lead to apprehension of two hacker groups, although little information emerged on the matter. Some of the largest international cyber and ransomware attacks in 2017 were speculated to have originated in Russia. Most recently the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) said it will monitor Telegram channels and other social
64 RUSSIA Country Report December 2017 www.intellinews.com