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maternity capital to be used to pay down a wider range of debts . Maternity capital is one of Russia’s best-known social assistance programs. Introduced in 2007 in order to raise fertility rates, the program rewards parents for the birth of a second or subsequent child with a one-time payment of over $7,000 (as of 2017). Although the demographic merit of the program is unclear, it is very popular, especially among the middle class. But maternity capital has complicated restrictions on how it can be spent. Parents can use it to construct or improve housing, to pay for education, or to add to the mother’s pension. One of the most popular uses of maternity capital is to pay down or refinance mortgages, but until now that has been limited to debts taken on after the birth of the second child. The new decree allows parents to pay down previous debts as well.
8.1.8 Bank news
The founder of Tinkoff Credit Systems ( TCS Group ) Oleg Tinkov has recently acquired 440,000 of the bank's GDRs for $9.2mn, implying a price of $20.9 per GDR, and plans to buy out more shares worth $20mn, the company said in a press release. Tinkoff Bank is a part of the TCS group and is the major player on Russia's retail lending market, and also runs the country’s leading online bank . “I believe we will continue to increase shareholder value as we build one of the most successful and profitable fintech players in the world. This is why I decided to increase my stake in the business, and I'm thrilled to see management doing the same,” Tinkov commented on the buyout in the press release. Analysts of BCS Global Markets commented on June 28 that Tinkov is "usually seen" buying shares on price weakness, confirming confidence in the business’ strong performance. BCS reminds that Tinkov sold 6.6% of TCS in an SPO in November 2017 at $19.7 per GDR. Aton Equity sees the news as s positive for sentiment and believes it should support further share price performance. The analysts remind that a year ago Tinkov and the management team acquired GDRs at around $9-12 per GDR and since then, the stock has doubled in value. Aton reiterated its Buy rating on the name.
VTB reported 5M 2018 IFRS financial highlights. On consolidated basis, Russia’s second-largest lender, recorded a net profit of RUB 87.1bn for 5M 2018 (+74% y/y) and RUB 19.5bn for May alone (+32% y/y), featuring ROE of around 15% for both periods. The bank managed to keep its NIM stable at 4.1% (May 2018 alone: 4.2%), while bringing the monthly cost of risk (annual terms) down to 1.8% after a hike to 3.4% in April 2018. On the asset side, the aggregate loan portfolio grew by 2.5% ytd, still driven mainly by the expansion in retail (+6.8% ytd). The reported NPL ratio subsided to 7.3% (April 2018: 7.6%), with a full coverage by provisions maintained. In May 2018, VTB saw corporate deposit inflows of 3.5% mtd (mainly nonstate entities, as per local GAAP), which provided for a slight decline of the L/D ratio to 96% (April 2018: 97%). As of 31 May 2018, the bank’s consolidated Tier 1 ratio (Basel I) stood at 12.2% and was subject to a RUB 73.5bn dividend payment for 2017 approved on 23 May 2018.
Sberbank has published its May 2018 RAS standalone results. Earnings of
RUSSIA Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com