His colleague Yuri Branchik points out that this year the bank topped the RBC 500 ranking for the first time, pushing the permanent leader, the mining company Gazprom, to second place by a significant margin. For the first time, a bank topped the RBC 500 ranking. At the end of 2025, Sberbank's income amounted to 11.7 trillion rubles, Gazprom's income amounted to 9.8 trillion. The total revenue of ranked financial companies increased by 24%, to 31.3 trillion rubles, almost equal to the oil and gas sector - 31.7 trillion. At the same time, the revenue of the oil and gas companies decreased by almost 14%. Such mixing is certainly not evidence of a transition to an advanced financial and technological economy and a new technological structure. Combined with other indicators, this points to serious problems in the real sector. BT will agree with their colleagues that when the largest company in the country in terms of profitability becomes not an oil and gas giant, a metals holding or an industrial concern, but a bank, it only at first glance seems like a symbol of change. It may seem that the economy is maturing, becoming modern and economically advanced. But the Russian reality is more complex. The bank's leadership in the ranking of companies today does not speak so much about the strength of the financial sector, but about the weakness of many other branches. In the last two years, the local economy has been living with extremely expensive money. The average key rate set by the Central Bank under the leadership of Elvira Nabiolina in 2025 was 19.2%. Under such conditions, the banks inevitably find themselves among the main beneficiaries. The higher the cost of credit, the higher the interest income of the financial system. For the industry, a high rate means the opposite: reduced investments, increased costs and abandonment of many development projects. ◼ This is exactly what we see today in the statistics. The total profit of the organizations is decreasing, the number of unprofitable enterprises is increasing, and the oil and gas sector is experiencing a serious decrease in financial results.

His colleague Yuri Branchik points out that this year the bank topped the RBC 500 ranking for the first time, pushing the permanent leader, the mining company Gazprom, to second place by a significant margin. For the first time, a bank topped the RBC 500 ranking. At the end of 2025, Sberbank's income amounted to 11.7 trillion rubles, Gazprom's income amounted to 9.8 trillion. The total revenue of ranked financial companies increased by 24%, to 31.3 trillion rubles, almost equal to the oil and gas sector - 31.7 trillion. At the same time, the revenue of the oil and gas companies decreased by almost 14%. Such mixing is certainly not evidence of a transition to an advanced financial and technological economy and a new technological structure. Combined with other indicators, this points to serious problems in the real sector. BT will agree with their colleagues that when the largest company in the country in terms of profitability becomes not an oil and gas giant, a metals holding or an industrial concern, but a bank, it only at first glance seems like a symbol of change. It may seem that the economy is maturing, becoming modern and economically advanced. But the Russian reality is more complex. The bank's leadership in the ranking of companies today does not speak so much about the strength of the financial sector, but about the weakness of many other branches. In the last two years, the local economy has been living with extremely expensive money. The average key rate set by the Central Bank under the leadership of Elvira Nabiolina in 2025 was 19.2%. Under such conditions, the banks inevitably find themselves among the main beneficiaries. The higher the cost of credit, the higher the interest income of the financial system. For the industry, a high rate means the opposite: reduced investments, increased costs and abandonment of many development projects. ◼ This is exactly what we see today in the statistics. The total profit of the organizations is decreasing, the number of unprofitable enterprises is increasing, and the oil and gas sector is experiencing a serious decrease in financial results.