Page 73 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

Sberbank, Russia's leading bank, anticipates a substantial surge in its mortgage lending activity, with expectations that it will reach RUB4.6 trillion in 2023, marking an 80% increase, according to First Deputy CEO Kirill Tsaryov.
That’s a substantial rise compared to the previous year and a significant 60% increase from 2021. Tsaryov also said there are no plans to change interest rates on Sberbank's mortgage loans.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service recently initiated a case against Sberbank and Sberbank Life Insurance, citing indications of an anti-competitive agreement between the two entities. Tsaryov stated that Sberbank is continually enhancing its services for clients and that new products like the "Domcklik Plus" package, which includes Sberbank Life Insurance, are introduced to improve service quality. Sberbank maintains that this package does not violate antimonopoly legislation, and they are awaiting official documents from the antimonopoly watchdog.
Furthermore, Tsaryov reported a 30% reduction in Sberbank's provision of consumer loans since the start of October. This decline is attributed to stricter regulations from the central bank and the elevated key interest rate. Despite this reduction, the bank's data indicates that consumer loans were issued to 6.7 million Russians in January to November, representing an increase of 1.3 million individuals compared to the same period in 2022. The total value of these loans also saw substantial growth, rising by 62% year-on-year to nearly 3 trillion rubles.
Russia’s top bank Sberbank plans to pay 50% of its net profit calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in dividends in 2024–2026 under its new strategy, CEO German Gref said on Wednesday during the bank’s Investor Day. While presenting the new strategy of the banking group for the next three years, Gref said, “We should ensure a high level of dividend payments at the level of 50% of our net profit.” Also, the bank plans to maintain a high return on equity and capital adequacy.
Sberbank plans a 1.5-fold increase in investments in the IT sector to 450bn rubles ($4.9bn), while revenues from the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) are projected at 800bn rubles ($8.7bn) within the next three years, Vice President Taras Skvortsov said.
"Our investments in IT will rise 1.5-fold within the next three years to 450bn rubles," he said, adding that "this is obviously the top area for investment in Sber." "We understand that every ruble invested in IT means investments in success, growth and future of Sber. But this means a direct financial result as well. Our revenue from artificial intelligence totally in three years - from 2021 to 2023 - will reach around 800bn rubles," Vice President said.
73 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com