Vedomosti: "Loans from the Prime Minister "
Authors: Anna Baraulina, Nadezhda Ivanitskaya
Vladimir Putin puts a cap on loan rates
Loans
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned bankers not to raise interest rates on loans issued on the inter-bank market from state support funds. Alpha Bank president Pyotr Aven agreed.
Yesterday, in the course of his visit to Novosibirsk, Mr Putin called on Alpha Bank's new office to ask Mr Aven if the bank used such funds. Mr Aven said the bank had secured an 8 billionrouble collateral-free loan from the Central Bank and planned to obtain a subordinated loan as well. Mr Putin asked how active Alpha Bank was on the inter-bank market, and Mr Aven answered that it was fairly active and that, despite the financial crisis, the bank was experiencing no difficulties.
Mr Putin then told Mr Aven how to distribute borrowed funds. "When you take money from Vneshekonombank or from the Central Bank, you act as a sort of commercial agent for the government; thus, your moves on the market must be dictated by the terms under which the state granted you its funds. You must not inflate interest rates," Mr Putin said. "Of course," Mr Aven agreed (all quotations are from Interfax), adding that the bank was interested in loan activity. "We do not take money to keep it under our pillows," he said. Mr Putin said these funds must reach the real economy. Early in October, Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev demanded that state banks issue state-supported loans on the inter-bank market at rates of no more than 18% per year.
Later, Mr Putin received guests at a United Russia public reception centre. The centre consisted of several rooms, one of them the size of an average kitchen, containing a T-shaped office desk and a flag in each corner. The first to arrive was a small business owner. He complained to Mr Putin that banks were not lending money to small businesses because of the crisis. "But I just now talked with Mr Aven, the head of Alpha Bank, and he assured me that it was issuing loans," Mr Putin said in surprise. "Not all of them," the businessman persisted. "But earlier, too, not all of them did the lending," Mr Putin retorted, and said that the government was planning to increase the financing of small businesses "several-fold".
"No need to worry, then?" the businessman asked to make sure. "You should always be on your toes," Mr Putin advised.
Half an hour later, the businessman was sitting before Mr Putin together with Mr Aven, and both told the Prime Minister that the problem was resolved. "Out of our $20 billion portfolio, 20% is loans for small and medium-sized businesses," Mr Aven said, adding that it was a lending season and, though the rates were a bit on the high side, they were certain to drop soon.
Other bankers, however, do not think so. The crisis has pushed interest rates on loans to small businesses up by two to three percentage points, and in Absolute Bank, a small businessman can take out a loan only at 17% to 20%, said Oleg Skvortsov, bank's deputy chairman. "I do not expect to see them start falling in the near future except perhaps in some branches, say, the public services, which people use despite the economic situation," he said.
Nadia Cherkasova, managing director for small and midsized businesses at National Bank Trust, does not see a reason for reducing rates, either. In order for loan costs for businessmen to drop, it is necessary to reduce costs for banks and increase competition for clients, which is now absent, she concluded.
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Doubts
In Mr Putin's opinion, the conversion of the rouble into a currency "is a doubtful proposition, because it is still not known what will happen to the dollar." "Absolutely," Mr Aven agreed. Asked by the Prime Minister what effect the crisis had on clients' accounts, the banker said, "The effect was immediate. Though today's withdrawals were normal, last week saw some tension."
