RIA NOVOSTI. Bank VTB management board chairman Andrei Kostin confirmed at a briefing on Thursday the bank’s previously flagged plans to increase the credit portfolio by 17% this year, RIA Novosti reported.
“We expect to see an increment in our credit portfolio this year, which is forecast to happen in the second half of the year. When the market begins to recover we project our credit portfolio to grow (in the Stavropol region — editorial note) by 50%, while the lender’s aggregate credit portfolio is anticipated to expand 17%," Kostin said. At the same time he admitted that “lending activity has not yet accelerated in the region” and, as a whole, the lender’s share on the Stavropol market is around 4%.
“We are quite satisfied with the market share we hold in the Stavropol region, as this is an important region and we therefore will expand our presence here, as well as in other North Caucasian regions, will participate in investment projects to be implemented in the North Caucasian region, including government-financed ones," the Bank VTB chief executive said.
According to him, the bank will take concerted efforts to roll out corporate lending. Kostin emphasized that establishing relations with regional businesses is a large area of activity for the lender. To solve targets set the bank lined up a number of procedures (to increase lending limits and functions, and simplify coordination procedures). Kostin said in an interview with RIA Novosti that under review is the issue of cutting lending rates. Specifically, they will be reduced by 3—4% to around 10% for the regional administration of the Stavropol region.
