The global cleansing of the banking sector, which the Central Bank has been actively engaged in for 3 years now, is forcing Russians to take a more careful approach to choosing a bank to place funds. It is believed that non-profit banks are more reliable. Is it so? And where is it safer to keep money?

Which state banks are in Russia?

List of banks with state capital and state participation. Russian banks are somewhat different things. The only state bank is the Bank of Russia (Central Bank), the rest belong to the state through the state. company or chain of state companies, or the state (again, through state-owned companies) owns part of the bank’s shares.

For example, the most common dispute is: Is Sberbank a private or state bank? Yes and no. The state owns a controlling stake - just over 52% of the shares. That is, there is no clear answer: Sberbank is a state bank or a commercial one. Shareholders other than the state also have influence on the bank. Or the second example: is VTB a state bank or not? Once upon a time, the state owned 100% of the shares, but gradually the bank is being sold off and today the Russian Federation has only 42.8%, and there are plans to completely reduce the state’s share to 25%.

List of banks with state participation:

• Sberbank - 52.32%
• VTB - 42.8%
• Gazprombank - 35.54%
• Rosselkhozbank - 100%
• FC Otkritie - 9.99% (+ increase due to reorganization)
• Khanty-Mansiysk Bank - 51%
• AK BARS - 25.77%
• Globex - 99%
• SME Bank - 100%
• Russian Capital - 100%
• All-Russian Regional Development Bank - 84.67%
• Post Bank - 50%
• Krayinvestbank 98%
• Rus' - 48.6%
• Bank of Kazan - 49%
• Khakass Municipal Bank - 26.28%
• Bank "Ekaterinburg" - 29.29%
• Roseximbank - 60.97%.
• Promsvyazbank (included in the list due to the reorganization of the FCBS)
• B&N Bank (included in the list due to the reorganization of the FCBS)

We will not puzzle you with the chains through which non-state banks in Russia come under the control of the Central Bank. The most common scheme (using the example of Otkritie) is reorganization. The Central Bank finds problems with a systemically important bank, introduces a temporary administration and prescribes “treatment” through the influence of public money. For additional capitalization, the bank transfers a controlling stake to the Central Bank and the bank becomes subordinate to the Central Bank. Also, a number of banks are registered with the Federal Property Management Agency, DIA, BEB, municipalities, etc.

Are government-backed banks reliable?

The list in 2018 is headed by Sberbank and VTB; there is no arguing about their reliability - they have always been among the leaders in all ratings. But - TOP banks offer fairly low rates on deposits, but you and I still want benefits, in addition to reliability. So who can you entrust your savings to so that you don’t have to run to the DIA for reimbursement and look for your money in off-balance sheet “notebooks”?

We recommend paying attention first of all to credit organizations recognized as important for the Russian economy. These banks, even if they lose liquidity, will receive support from the Central Bank in the form of reorganization, since it is in them that the majority of Russians’ deposits are concentrated. For example, Promsvyazbank, Otkritie and Binbank practically burst, but the Central Bank took them under its wing, and depositors did not lose a penny.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing “cleansing” of the banking market, the concentration of assets in credit institutions with state participation is increasing. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for private banks to compete for a place in the market, and the share of banks with non-resident participation is steadily and rapidly declining. The main reason is customer fear.

Rumors in favor of the state

The share of the top 15 banks with state participation (by asset size as of July 1, 2017) in the assets of the Russian banking system was 51.2% in 2008, 56.4% in 2012, and 61.4% in 2016. . (The list of the largest banks with state participation includes: Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, VTB 24, RSHB, NCC, BM-Bank, Ak Bars, Russian Capital, RRDB, Zenit, Svyaz-Bank, Novikombank, Globex ", Post Bank.)

The constant revocation of licenses and the alarming information background, the nervous state of banking clients - companies and individuals - all this determines the outflow of funds from private banks to state banks. This trend is not caused by any particularly favorable conditions, quality of service or original offers from the “states,” but by the subjective feeling of comfort of clients.

Unpredictability, blacklists, and rumors make any private bank vulnerable to customer panic. The regulator's promises to clean up the system continue to strengthen the mutual distrust of all financial market participants and their clients. And even last week’s “positive” verbal interventions - statements by First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Dmitry Tulin that the regulator has no claims against large banks and should not expect licensing measures against them - did not particularly reassure people.

Unpredictability, blacklists, and rumors make any private bank vulnerable to customer panic. The regulator’s promises to “clean up” the system further strengthen the mutual distrust of all financial market participants and their clients

There are various rumors among financiers and the general public regarding several large private banks, even the abbreviation BOMP has become popular, meaning the first letters of the names (we will not decipher it, so as not to contribute to the already clearly fueled panic by someone).

The offensive of state banks is growing

However, what is happening now simply continues in a dramatic form the general process that has been going on for many years. State-owned banks are attracting clients, having no competitive advantages other than their state image and periodic bouts of panic in the market. Of course, it cannot be said that all state banks are equally ineffective and perform worse than private ones; this would also be too strong a statement. But a huge amount of funds from various organizations and the population, which had already left private banking for state banks, flowed there due to banal fear.

As a result, the growth rate of assets of state banks is much higher than the market average: the assets of the top 15 banks with state participation increased in 2012 compared to 2008 by 94.4% (83.4% excluding Sberbank), and in 2016 the increase compared to 2012 year amounted to 76.2% (91.9% excluding Sberbank). For comparison: the overall growth rates of banking system assets during these periods were 76.7% and 61.7%, respectively.

Banks with state participation play a key role in lending, both retail and corporate. Thus, the share of the retail loan portfolio of state banks increased by one and a half times over the period from 2008 to 2016 and amounted to 65.7% at the beginning of 2017. The share of the corporate portfolio attributable to state-owned banks increased by 17.4 percentage points over eight years to 71.7%.

The lion's share of all banking sector profits also comes from state-owned banks, primarily Sberbank. The total amount of banking profit for January - May 2017 amounted to 653 billion rubles compared to 235 billion for the same period in 2016. At the same time, about a third of banks on the market show losses. The contribution to the profit dynamics was made mainly by Sberbank, VTB (VTB 24 and Bank of Moscow), Gazprombank. The top three account for about 50% of all profits in the market. Moreover, 40% of the total profit of the country's banking system was earned by Sberbank.

The growth in the market share of state banks is due not only to the “immunity” received from the regulator, but also to the fact that credit institutions with state participation in such conditions can be more efficient: they can spend less on attracting customers, product development, advertising and marketing. In fact, they don’t have to advertise their reliability and services at all; such public opinion has already formed. Although, of course, they still have to compete with each other.

Beneficiaries of the sweep

As a result, state-owned banks have become beneficiaries of the banking market purge, and private banks are weakened, including the largest representatives of the sector. Those private players who continue to show positive dynamics spend much more money and effort to achieve results. They had to additionally fight for clients, in some cases of lower quality, in order to maintain market share. “Worsening selection,” that is, the transfer to private banks of increasingly expensive liabilities and increasingly lower-quality borrowers, is a risk for the entire market. State banks become hostages of their position: their margins are growing due to external factors, and the incentives to improve their activities and services and optimize costs are decreasing.

One can only hope that monopolization, concentration of assets and the huge share of state banks in lending are not the target for the development of the banking sector. But these processes are already becoming uncontrollable. And if this continues, special measures will have to be taken to curb the growth of the share of state-owned companies.

Konstantin VOROBYEV , Senior Vice President, ICDI Pacific Co. Ltd.

The banking system is a complex system with a hierarchy of structures and operating principles. The state controls each organization and revokes the license if unfair competition occurs and the provision of services occurs. VTB Group is a leader in this area and clients are interested in the question, is VTB a state or commercial bank?

A state bank is an institution where a controlling stake belongs to the state, represented by the government or the Ministry of Finance.

State banks

The list of state-owned financial organizations in Russia includes 28 organizations, the main of which are Gazprombank, Krayinvestbank, VTB Bank of Moscow, Svyaz-Bank, Globex, Russian Capital, Eurofinance Mosnarbank and others. Each organization operates in a specific federal district. The state's share in VTB at the time of the creation of the structure was 96.8%.

State banks operate in a specific area - they provide clearing services, insurance, and work only with individuals or legal entities.

The mission and development strategy depends on the decisions made by the government. This somewhat narrows the focus of development and creates barriers to the full maintenance of operations.

Commercial structures

As of January 1, 2018, there were 514 commercial structures in Russia, and 466 are in the banking insurance system. The owners of such institutions are individuals or legal entities in a single entity.

Types of services and operations - loans, mortgages, deposits, insurance, sureties, services for legal entities and individuals.

The top ten included the following: OJSC Alfa-Bank, Bank of Moscow, JSC Russian Standard Bank, PJSC AK Bars, Uralsib, Binbank, VTB Bank, Vostochny.

Considering the largest institutions from the list above, we can determine that VTB takes first place in the ranking. So, is VTB Bank state-owned or commercial? The answer is simple.

VTB Bank is a universal commercial structure with state ownership of part of the capital. In recent years, management has been actively acquiring other financial institutions, thus strengthening its position in various regions of the country.

The entire company operates as a single holding, in which each unit adheres to a common strategy and mission.

Reducing the state's share

The priority direction of development for 2017–2019. technological support and modernization of the system were approved. The maximum profit, according to the plan, should be 200 billion rubles by the end of the period. Every year, company owners issue additional additional shares.

Through the sale of shares, VTB Group includes prestigious global investors who invest significant financial resources in the development of the organization.

The state's share in VTB today is 60.9%. Gradually, the government's role in participating activities is decreasing. Considering the international expansion and provision of services in Europe, India, Asia, China, Africa. Thus, each geographic sector has its own investors known to the local population. This increases the rating level and prestige of the company.

So, we figured it out and answered the customer’s question about whether VTB Bank is a state bank or a commercial one. This financial institution is the most reliable, which also works in various areas of banking services.

What is a state bank? This is an institution that is owned by the state - fully or partially (the question is to what extent) and indirectly, these are banks that are controlled by the state - directly or indirectly.

State participation, as a rule, entails conservatism in business, which is reflected in low deposit rates. At the same time, the “status” of the state implies a certain reliability, which means guarantees of the safety of deposits.

There is another plus - through its structures, the state stimulates the consumer market; loan rates in state banks are often lower. Russia has its own specifics - the largest retail banks are state-owned.

The population trusts state banks. This kind of mentality, however, is typical for most countries.

Methods of state participation:

1. By force of law - institutions created for certain state tasks in accordance with special laws. For example, the Central Bank.
2. Full participation - banks that are 100% owned by government agencies (or municipal or federal subjects). For example, Rosselkhozbank.
3. Partial participation - the state has a share in the bank. Example - Sberbank - more than 50% of the shares are owned by the Central Bank, which represents the state in the banking sector.
4. Indirect participation - the bank belongs to a structure that, in turn, is fully or partially owned by the state. Example - Svyaz-Bank - belongs to Vnesheconombank (more than 99%), which in turn is owned by the state.
5. Control is an option when the state. structures control the activities and assets of the bank. For example, banks in which a temporary administration has been appointed, taken over by the Bank Consolidation Fund - Otkritie, B&N Bank.

At the moment, all financial and credit organizations in our country are divided into two large categories - private and public. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that the bank was initially created by the state itself. Often, in order to protect the deposit insurance fund and prevent panic in the market, the government decides to buy a private bank, if it is large, systemic (see) and is experiencing significant difficulties - the situation is too big to fail.

PJSC Sberbank is a state bank in which the state share is more than 50%.

Table - list of state banks

27Binbank. Became part of the Discovery.

p/n	Name of the bank	Note
1	Bank of Russia (Central Bank of the Russian Federation)	86-FZ On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
2	Vnesheconombank (Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs)	No. 82-FZ On the Development Bank.
3	Sberbank
4	VTB	Including Bank of Moscow and VTB 24.
5	Gazprombank
6	Rosselkhozbank
7	National Clearing Center	Carries out clearing activities and is a subsidiary of the Moscow Exchange.
8	AK BARS
9	Svyaz-Bank
10	Globex	The license has been revoked. Became part of Svyaz-Bank
11	SME Bank
12	Russian Capital
13	All-Russian Regional Development Bank (RRDB)
14	Post Bank	Former Leto Bank.
15	Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB)	Crimea.
16	Eurofinance Mosnarbank
17	Krayinvestbank
18	Far Eastern Bank
19	Akibank
20	Almazergienbank
21	Moscow Mortgage Agency
22	Roseximbank
23	BM-Bank
24	Rus
25	Khakass Municipal Bank
26	Bank of Kazan
28	Opening

When choosing a bank for a deposit or loan, clients look not only at interest rates: the most important indicator is currently considered. No one wants to lose funds as part of a cleanup of the banking sector or have their credit history damaged when an unreliable lender is liquidated.

It is believed that the most reliable are the state ones. Russian banks. And there is the lion’s share of truth in this statement: the state will not invest in assets and store the capital of its chambers and foundations in low-quality organizations. In practice, non-commercial banks in which the state has a stake are extremely rarely deprived of their license, which means they are as safe as possible for depositors.

Which banks are state-owned?

In Russia, the list of tanks with state participation is quite large. It includes both organizations with a 100% stake or 50% + 1 voting share, as well as banks with government support. The 2017 list increased due to the reorganizations carried out during the year (in the event of a bank’s financial recovery, 51% of the shares go to the DIA).

Is Sberbank a private or state bank?

Many people are interested in whether Sberbank is a state bank or a commercial one? It is impossible to answer yes or no here: because the state (through the Central Bank of the Russian Federation) owns only 52.32% of the shares, and the remaining 47.68% are Bank Shares that are in public circulation, their owners (including minority shareholders ) are not installed.

VTB state bank or not?

The VTB Group owns the banks VTB Bank of Moscow, VTB24 PJSC and OJSC VTB Bank North-West. The main one in the group is PJSC VTB.

• 60.93% owned by the Russian Federation represented by the Federal Property Management Agency,
• 29.77% belongs to minority shareholders,
• 2.95% is owned by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan,
• 2.36% - from the Swiss company Credit Suisse AG,
• 2.73% - owned by JSC Rosselkhozbank,
• 1.26% - from JSC AB RUSSIA

PJSC VTB24, in turn, is almost 100% (99.9269%) owned by PJSC VTB. It turns out that VTB24 is also practically state-owned.

There are many such ownership schemes (through another bank). Many non-state banks in Russia are controlled by the authorities through another organization (Chamber of Commerce, Rosimushchestvo, etc.)

List of state banks in Russia 2017:

(based on partial share ownership)

Bank's name	Controlling owner
Sberbank	52.32% belongs to the Central Bank
	60.93% belongs to the Russian Federation (Rosimushchestvo)
	99.93% from PJSC VTB
Rosselkhozbank	100% from the Russian Federation (Rosimushchestvo)
	100% from the Russian Federation (Rosimushchestvo)
Post Bank	50.00002% from VTB24
Gazprombank	35.54% from the Russian Federation through PJSC Gazprom
FC "Otkritie"	9.99% from VTB PJSC, part of Otkritie Holding JSC.
Globexbank	99.994334259554% - from Vnesheconombank
Russian Capital	100% State Corporation "Agency for Deposit Insurance" (GC "DIA")
All-Russian Regional Development Bank	84.67% from the Russian Federation (Rosimushchestvo)
Krayinvestbank	98.04% - Department of Investments of the Krasnodar Territory
Bank of Kazan	49.1184% - from the authorities of Kazan (municipal formation of Kazan)
Khakass Municipal Bank	26.28% - Committee of Municipal Economy of the Administration Abakan
Bank "Ekaterinburg"	29.29% - owned by the Municipal Entity "City of Yekaterinburg" represented by the Department for Municipal Property Management"
	25,779 – Republic of Tatarstan
OIKB "Rus"	48.6% - in the Orenburg region
Roseximbank	60.97% - from Vnesheconombank