The rankings are made on the basis of tier-one capital measurements. Tier one capital is that which can absorb real or potential losses without a bank being required to cease trading. This index, introduced by the Basel Bank for International Settlements, is now viewed as the most objective indicator of banks' solvency.
Russian banks hold leading positions among the banks of Central and Eastern Europe: of the twenty-five largest finance institutions in the region, fourteen are Russian-based, including three among the world's top five.
Sberbank is ranked as the region's top bank (152nd place on world rankings), with its tier-one capital presently at 2.8 billion dollars (it has grown 20.1 percent in dollar denomination, from last year's figure). Vneshtorgbank and Gazprombank come second and fourth, respectively (179th and 352nd on world rankings). Vneshtorgbank's first-tier capital amounts to 2.4 billion dollars; Gazprombank's, $1 billion.
The Russian startups ranked among the world's top thousand banks include Avtobank Nikoil, Promsvyazbank, and the National Reserve Bank.
Profits on the capital of seventeen Russian banks averaged 21.48 percent last year. According to analysts of the Banker magazine, Russian banks seem to be strengthening their positions and improving their performance.
Russian banks maintain their leading positions in Central and Eastern Europe, Banker experts say. According to them, the banking sector in that region now grows at a faster pace than elsewhere in the world, trying to keep up with the increase in national economies' financial needs. They believe that the as yet insufficient number of banks in this region, especially in the area of consumer finances, offers huge opportunities.
But Russian banksstill have a long way to go. According to the rankings published in the Banker magazine, the world's heavyweights such as Citibank, the Bank of America and HSBC outperform Russian counterparts by a factor of 10 to 20.
