The current situation in the Russian economy is similar to the situation in the USA in the first half of the 1980s. This was stated by the Head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maksim Oreshkin. Then the USA reached a low and stable inflation, this marked the beginning of the credit cycle which lasted for 27 years, as the Minister noted. He considers that the overall level of the debt burden in the Russian economy is low now.

      “The task of the Government and the Central Bank of Russia in this sphere is to ensure positive credit cycle for the purpose of economic growth. This means that they should focus on corporate and investment lending, development of such tools as mortgage” – Oreshkin noted.

      Sberbank is Russia’s largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Sberbank holds almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit taker in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and principal shareholder of Sberbank owning 50% of the Bank's authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining 50% held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has more than 135 million individual customers and more than 1 million corporate clients in 22 countries. Sberbank has the largest distribution network in Russia with almost 17,000 branches, and its international operations include UK, US, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and other countries.