The Bank of Russia should return to the practice of large-scale delicensing of banks to reduce their number in the country. VTB CEO Andrey Kostin announced this on Friday during the "Focus on the Customer" conference.
According to Kostin, the banking system is going through difficult times. According to statistics from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the volume of problematic loans on banks' balance sheets has increased (up to 13% of the portfolio as of September 1), and customers are withdrawing funds for cash (almost 3 trillion rubles since the beginning of the year).
"It's very difficult for us," Kostin said, adding that there is "very tough" competition between the banks for customers.
"And although the central bank, we have to give it credit, has made tremendous efforts to reduce the number of banks in recent decades, this work, it seems to me, still needs to continue," Kostin added (Interfax quotes Kostin).
Since 2013, when Elvira Neviolina headed the Bank of Russia, the number of credit institutions in the country has more than tripled.