Banks Association President: Foreign banks sleeping in Russia

'Foreign capital in the Russian banking sector is very inactive,' said Russian Association of Regional Banks President Alexander Murychev in a press conference yesterday.

'Foreign banks have arrived, but so far they are sleeping,' said Murychev. According to Murychev, the share of banks with the participation of non-residents in the aggregate Russian banking sector is not more than 5.3%.

Murychev said that at the present time 125 credit organizations operating with foreign capital are active in Russia. Moreover, 67.2% of these banks are located in Moscow, 6.4% in St. Petersburg and 4% in Tyumen. Leading foreign banks include City-Bank and Moscow International Bank. Leading foreign governments in the Russian banking sector include Germany, the Netherlands, US, France, Austria and Turkey.

He also said that the limited availability of foreign capital would not, however, harm the Russian banking sector. Moreover, he said that it would make sense to establish quotas on employees in banks operating with foreign capital, which call for not less than 50% of bank management employees being Russian citizens and at least 75% of total bank staff being Russian citizens.