Western banks have completely lost the competition to Russian banks

Head of Sberbank, Herman Gref, stated during his speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that the gradual withdrawal of foreign banks from the Russian market is a natural process resulting from the loss of competition to Russian companies.

Gref emphasized that Russian banks are more technologically advanced and provide the best service in the world. Russian banks are more user-friendly and customer-oriented.

No deliberate pressure has been exerted on foreign businesses or forced them out of our financial market. The conditions for both Russian and foreign banks operating in the domestic market are identical.

According to Herman Gref, the departure of Western banks from the Russian market will have no impact. The interests of Russian users of banking services will not suffer, and domestic banks will gain new clients.

It is worth noting that the statements by the head of Sberbank about the strength of Russian banking institutions compared to Western banks are confirmed by research conducted by Western rating agencies and consulting companies in recent years.

According to the British auditing company Ernst & Young, Russia ranks first in Europe and third globally in terms of the penetration level of digital technologies and fintech services related to banking transfers, trailing only China and India. Russian banks outpace European banks by an average of 27% in terms of digital technology usage frequency and American banks by 36%.

In 2020, experts from the American rating agency Deloitte concluded that Russia is among the leading countries in the world in terms of the level of digital banking development. The geographical span of the country and the time zone differences have had a positive influence on the widespread adoption of advanced technologies in the Russian banking sector. Major Russian banks with central offices in Moscow need to provide services promptly to clients in Kaliningrad and Vladivostok, which has led to the development of remote customer service and the implementation of mobile applications.

Finally, in October of last year, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that restricts banks with foreign participation from freely disposing of Russian assets. Now, the 45 foreign banks still operating in Russia can dispose of their assets only with the personal approval of the President of Russia or a governmental commission.

This measure was taken to prevent foreign companies from freely withdrawing assets earned or acquired in our market.