The Russian banking network has taken the right road, and will fully satisfy economic and popular demands within a mere ten years. Capital concentration in present-day Russia is bolstering up banks, said the interviewee.
He does not think this month's dire events ought to be regarded as an overall banking crisis-merely particular banks' problems. Situations as that are normal for whatever emergent banking system. The crisis cloud had a silver lining-it prompted Russia to bring its banking sector into order, he pointed out.
The Raiffeisenbank Austria is affiliated to the Raiffeisen banking group-a giant present in 25 or more countries in all parts of the world, with lump assets exceeding 115 billion Euro. The Raiffeisenbank was one of the first Western-based banks to penetrate Russian provinces. It aims eventually to acquire 1.5% to 2% of the Russian finance market, says its boss. That is why the bank focuses attention at developing a regional network. It is planning to establish, by June 2006, ten regional branches, at the least, in particular, in Yekaterinburg, Nizhni Novgorod, Samara, Vladivostok and Novosibirsk-an ambitious geography involving every part of the host country.