Russia: An end to easy money

At the top end, Russian banking still revolves around lucrative government business and political influence. But with T-bill yields falling below 20% this summer and alleged corruption in the banking system, which acts as a surrogate government treasury, Russian banks face some big challenges. Charles Piggott reports on whether the time has come for Russian banks to get their hands dirty doing what their namesakes elsewhere do - lending money.

RUSSIA: THE NEXT CHAPTER

The easy days are over for Russia’s banks. Bankers are psyching up for a shake-out which shows every sign of being lengthy and brutal.

By the beginning of the year the 3,500 institutions that sprang up after 1989 had been whittled down to 2,008 banks. Analysts talk of there being just 250 banks in Russia in five years’ time. But the shake-out, driven by the restructuring of what were once captive clients for the banks, foreign competition and plummeting GKO yields, could be a good thing for Russian banking since surviving banks will be driven to consolidate and mature into serious financial institutions.

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