Page 67 - RUSRptApr17

8.1.2 Loans
Corporate loans nominally contracted by RUB326bn (0.9%) in February,
but after adjusting for 4% ruble appreciation against the dollar grew by RUB105bn (0.3%). Growth was concentrated at National Clearing Centre (RUB76bn, 16%; all corporate reverse repo exposure), Sberbank (RUB39bn, 0.4%) and FC Otkritie (RUB27bn, 1.6%). Considerable decreases occurred at VTB (RUB33bn, -0.6%), VBRR (RUB20bn, 29%) and Alfa-Bank (RUB15bn, 1.3%).
Retail loans grew by a moderate RUB30bn (0.3%) in February after being adjusted for exchange rate movements. The growth was mainly in state banks (RUB27bn), particularly in VTB group (RUB22bn, 1.1%). Among the specialised retail banks only Tinkoff grew by 2%, while Russian Standard, Home Credit, OTP and Rencreit deleveraged by 0.2%-1.3%.
In 2016, 53% of all Russian borrowers took out cash loans not to finance purchases but to cover partially or in full previous outstanding loans , Vedomosti daily reported on April 19, citing an analysis by the United Credit Bureau (OKB) of 45mn open retail loans. The share of such borrowers remains steadily high, estimated at 50% in 2015 and 43% in 2014. The number peaked at 58% of borrowers refinancing earlier loans in December 2016. The share of the average refinancing loan increased in 2016 from RUB100,000 (€1,660) to RUB130,000. More than quarter (27%) of borrowers that took out a repeated loan used more than half of the borrowed amount to cover the previous loan. The highest share of repeated borrowers of 56% is among those who originally received up to RUB50,000, but the share does not decline significantly across all loan volumes and fluctuates between 41% to 47%. The head of OKB Daniel Zelensky believes that such a trend is a result of the growing popularity of refinancing programmes developed by many banks during 2016.
67 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com