State banks of Russia as a guarantor of a stable economy of the country

The banking system of Russia is heterogeneous: it includes large and small players, as well as institutions in which the most important indicator is the state share. What is the specificity of the work of credit institutions, where the prevailing volume of assets belongs to the authorities?

What is a state bank?

Credit institutions that are owned and controlled by government authorities (based on the ownership of a controlling stake) are classified as state-owned banks. The main function of such organizations is lending to important economic entities from the point of view of national policy, as well as related investment and settlement operations. As a rule, state-owned banks of Russia serve key, strategically important sectors of the economy that affect the country's position in the international business arena, and work with which is difficult for credit institutions with private capital.

The government, owning its own financial organizations, conducts foreign trade, regulates the most important domestic industries (such as, for example, agriculture), conducts policies in the regions of the country, manages investments in nationwide projects. There are, therefore, a number of clear criteria for determining which banks are state-owned. In Russia, such institutions play a key role in national financial policies.

Central banks. Who owns the Central Bank of Russia?

The Central Bank (Bank of Russia) is a subspecies of the state credit institution. Its functions are macroeconomic regulation of the national economy, control over the work of financial organizations with private capital, participation in international monetary processes, assistance in implementing strategic development programs of the country. The Central Bank manages the strategic gold and currency reserves of the state. The legal status of the Central Bank of Russia, as experts believe, is very ambiguous. On the one hand, the authorized capital of the Central Bank of our country is the property of the federation.

At the same time, the institution is responsible for the obligations of the state (but not vice versa), it operates at the expense of its own revenues. It turns out that from the point of view of the law, the Central Bank of Russia is independent of the government of the country. It is not entirely true that the Bank of Russia is an organ of state power. If you adhere to this point of view, then the state has far from absolute authority for using the assets of the Central Bank in the form of gold and foreign exchange reserves. And if, for example, the government expresses such intentions, the Central Bank has the right to apply to international judicial instances.

CB: assets abroad

The central bank owns the so-called Russian banks - credit institutions that operate abroad. Among them are the Moscow People's Bank (located in London), Ost-West Handelsbank (Frankfurt am Main), Eurobank (Paris). Banks of Russia with state participation, therefore, are in the most developed countries of Europe.

The role of financial institutions of this type is to improve the mechanism of settlement and credit operations with foreign entities. Roszagranks are able to attract investments for the state's needs, which is beneficial for the country's economy. Typically, the profitability of such institutions (and the amount of payments from taxes to the budget) is higher than that of commercial banks.

The largest state banks of the country

Sberbank of Russia (SB RF) is the largest credit institution with state participation in assets. About 60% of the shares of this financial organization belong to the authorities, 40% - in public circulation. This state-owned bank of Russia was established even under the Soviet regime, but the indicator of a private stake in possession is one of the highest on the market.

For example, Assets Rosselkhozbank 100% owned Rosimuschestvo (one of the main authorities in the structure of assets of banks). Another example of a large credit institution is VTB Bank. The Federal Property Management Agency owns slightly more than 75% of the shares of this institution. A fairly large share, which belongs to the authorities, is also present in Gazprombank.

Special status of Vnesheconombank

Vnesheconombank (VEB) is a credit institution that occupies a specific position in the banking system of our country. The fact is that it conducts its activities without a license and is not subject to supervision, while other state banks of Russia are dealing with these phenomena. Vnesheconombank is over 90 years old, and from the legal point of view it is a state corporation. Debt obligations are acceptable in the practice of this institution. The options for cooperation between Vnesheconombank and another credit institution - Roseximbank (created to support exports) are considered. If this happens, an instrument will be created in the hands of the authorities to support foreign trade by providing partial guarantees. However, a certain hindrance, as some experts believe, for this kind of work may become old debts of VEB.

Experts: state-owned banks should be multilevel

Experts of the banking market note that the development of the country's banking system should have clear principles. One of such experts sees the system of subordination between credit institutions of different levels. The Rosselkhozbank, as well as the RDB and RRDB are proposed to be included in the banks that should be in the top position. Their activities may be related to the financial provision of the country's investment policy, the development of the agricultural sector.

At the "second level" - Sberbank, VTB, Roseximbank and VEB. In particular, the Security Council believes that the functions of the Security Council should be concentrated around tasks related to saving deposits and not allow expansion in the trade segments. State banks of Russia "third level" on the idea of experts should be universal: to give loans, participate in making payments, etc. The entry of banks of this category in the first two, according to financiers, should have persistent barriers.

Efficiency of state-owned banks

In recent years, research has been actively conducted related to the development of the Russian banking system. Within the framework of one of them, the effectiveness of banks, including state ones, was revealed. The study also examined organizations with foreign participation. Credit institutions, according to the results of the work of experts, were divided into five groups: state banks, taking into account the Security Council of the Russian Federation, state-owned banks that are not related to the Security Council of the Russian Federation, private banks with a central office in Moscow or St. Petersburg, private banks in the regions, and Subsidiaries of foreign financial organizations.

It turned out that the most effective are state banks of Russia included in the groups with the SB RF. A list of the many criteria included in the study confirmed this. The closest prosecutors on the scale of work quality were private banks from Moscow. However, the effectiveness of the Security Council turned out to be somewhat lower than the average for the group of the ten largest banks by assets (but still higher than the average for the above-mentioned five groups of institutions).

Reliability of state-owned banks

Many financiers (and philistines) believe that Russian state banks are more reliable than private ones. This, as practice shows the work of credit institutions, on the whole corresponds to reality. Experts believe that there are a number of quite logical explanations for this. Firstly, the state-owned banks, due to their greater historical experience, possess extensive tools for regional expansion and gaining customer confidence. Secondly, financiers believe, the state often sponsors projects, not going too deep into the analysis of profitability, which is not at all characteristic of private credit institutions. Thirdly, state-owned banks allow themselves to hire people for a lower salary level, which generally increases the operational efficiency of organizations and competitiveness in comparison with private banks.

Prospects of state-owned banks

Among some experts of the financial market, the thesis is popular that the share of state participation in banks will gradually decrease. However, instead of owning the assets of institutions, the authorities will strive to introduce the right people into government bodies. There is also the opposite opinion, according to which the reduction of the state's share in the banking system does not have the most pronounced prospects: the case is in the specifics of the regulatory framework. According to the second point of view, the transformations, if they will be implemented, will in practice reflect only the formal transfer of shares (or the exchange of functions) between different state structures. Among other nuances determining the prospects for credit institutions with state participation is the share of the Central Bank in the management of commercial banks.

There is an opinion on the need for the withdrawal of the Central Bank from the capitals of private financial organizations, since the position of the Central Bank as an owner contradicts the task of supervising and working for the economy of the whole country. The year in which the state-owned banks of Russia-2014 are likely to be reformed, the list of possible transformations is likely to be published on the pages of Central Bank bulletins or profile media.