Tycoon comments on competitiveness of Russian banks

Russian banks are able to compete with foreign banks in the event a large number of non-residents enter the Russian currency market, Kakha Bendukidze, the General Director of the United Heavy Machinery company (OMZ), said at parliamentary hearings devoted to legislative support of liberalization of currency regulation. He stressed that measures for restricting the access of non-residents and other currency restrictions suggested by the government bill on currency regulation and control, were pointless.

According to Bendukidze, the bill restricts the citizens' right to manage their property. Large business "has every means for overcoming these restrictions of currency control", Bendukidze pointed out and added that these measures would affect small businesses. "We do not need this law," he concluded.