‘The current financial crisis broke out in the USA and then Europe, Asia, Russia, and so on. The problem is, the U.S. Government was really reluctant at first to support their country’s banking sector but agreed to have these support programs developed at the end of the day. The British Government, for one, was prepared to take these steps much earlier than its American counterpart, while the German authorities took longer to come up with their rescue plans,’ UralTransBank’s BOD member and a representative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Juergen Schramm announced at a conference in Yekaterinburg last Friday.

‘As far as Russia is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised by the aid program the Russian Government had drawn up for this country’s banking system. Nevertheless, what I found a bit strange was that the authorities appear to be ready to support the state-run banks only rather than both the state-run and private ones. I believe this could be improved upon. The private enterprise needs some help, too,’ he added.

‘Frankly speaking, I’m positive this kind of support is going to change the face of the country’s banking system. A lot of banks will simply disappear, but this might have a cleansing effect,’ the bank executive said.