Russians show more trust in commercial banks

Sberbank's share of Russians' personal savings has dropped from 70% to 65% over the last three years. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced by President of the Association of Russian Banks Garegin Tosunian at a press conference devoted to the 15th anniversary since the creation of the first commercial banks in post-Soviet Russia. In his opinion 'the falling number of savings accounts in Sberbank show that customers are showing more interest in commercial banks.'

Mr Tosunian said the volume of savings in banks is actually rising by 50% every year. 'Despite the government's lack of support, the shares of commercial banks have trebled in value recently and more and more accounts are constantly being opened,' he stressed. He said the widespread opinion that people do not trust banks is simply a myth.

The Association of Russian Banks was formed in March, 1991. Since 1997 it has been a member of the Banking Federation of the European Union, which comprises three thousand European banks.

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