‘Speaking of possible changes in the way loans are given in this country, one should bear in mind that these are mainly financial intermediaries that actually have a sort of borrowing policy, which means these changes will above all affect the Central Bank of Russia and other Russian banks. As for the Central Bank of Russia, it will probably try to liberalize the assets it uses as collaterals for lombard loans and repurchase agreements. This way the authorities are hoping to be able to improve the refinancing mechanisms while the global stock market appears to be so unstable,’ Vsevolod Chaschin, General Director of Blagodat Securities Investment Company, said to UrBC.

‘The banks’ borrowing policies will generally change in terms of new preferences, that is, customers from what areas of industry and business they will offer loans to. Then, banks will probably try to create new types of borrowers who will be loyal to them and who are aware of the effective interest rate on loans to businesses. In addition, better use will be made of one’s credit record (as the interest rates on loans have been made more comprehensible),’ Mr. Chaschin said.

‘One can therefore expect the banks’ borrowing policy to grow more transparent and the level of trust between the debtors and the money lenders to go up. Then, the classification of assets (that is, of the loan portfolio and of the collaterals) is likely to become more detailed due to rating agencies’ increased demands,’ he noted.

‘The likeliest fields subject to changes are sectorial lending and legislative amendments. As for the former, the cash flow tends to move this or that way depending on the market opportunities and both internal and external factors. The crisis on the American real estate market, for instance, will affect the banks’ policies, which might lead to Russian banks changing their policies related to mortgages, leasing, factoring, and industrial loans. As for the latter, new amendments make it obligatory to reveal a bank’s actual effective interest rates on loans, which means the interest rates are to go up. Then, competing for ruble investments might result in more attractive interest rates on bank deposits,’ Mr. Chaschin observed.