According to the Bank of Russia, there were 1,135 crediting organizations in the country on February 1, 2008, which falls short of the figures for February 2003 by 115 banks. The maximum number of banks actually closed down in 2006.

All these banks operate through 3,475 subsidiaries altogether; their number dropped by 99 outlets in 2003 and by 11 outlets in 2006, while the years 2004, 2005, and 2007 were the periods of extensive subsidiary network growth. 189 new bank subsidiaries were set up between February 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. Besides, 20 new branches were introduced in January 2008 alone, and these figures are expected to keep going up throughout the year. SKB-Bank, for one, is planning to set up offices in 15 Russian regions spread throughout Russia from Kaliningrad to Khabarovsk.

As for the banks’ geographical spread, little has changed over the last five years. The Bank of Russia reports their distribution has remained extremely uneven. Sverdlovsk Region, with its 25 banks, is one of Russia’s top five regions in terms of the number of crediting organizations, only outstripped by Moscow, with its 554 banks, Saint Petersburg, with its 41 banks, Dagestan, with its 33 banks, and Tatarstan, with its 26 banks. In the meanwhile, some Russian regions still have very few banks: not a single bank was set up in Nenetskiy, Chukotsky, Ust-Ordynskiy, or Aginskiy Buryatskiy Autonomous Regions between February 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. The same is true of the Chechen Republic and Jewish Autonomous Region.