so far weathered the storm next on our t.v. interview program spotlights where are going of talks to the deputy c.e.o. of russia's biggest bank to find out how safe the country's financial institutions really are. oh yes welcome to the spotlight. today my guest on the show is. the european. banks. and bad. it's doing all right but economists say they will have to do moody's is downgrading the russian banking sector and the ruble is losing its value all this trouble. that there's

a very bad celebrates its anniversary saying it's going to become a transnational company. how is her going to grow. are struggling to survive we're asking the banks to. russia's banking burbank turns a hundred and seventy this month through the years has become the largest bank used in europe about half of all russian citizens retailed represents burbank's brand is worth twelve billion dollars which makes it one of the strongest banking brands in the world instead of a birthday party the company has arranged a conference to figure out its future he's aiming to become a transnational financial institution in the next ten years but it's. turmoil and financial.

thanks for having us thank you very much for being with us so first of all think it's the one hundred. burbank is the only bank that survived the socialist revolution of nine hundred seventeen then another revolution that no i didn't you were so so so was so it's been there forever yeah it was created by the. addict of eighteen forty one so it's an institution and it sounds. great listen as burbank is celebrating the anniversary and the news of the continuing euro zone crisis well is this crisis are these news that we're getting for in europe are they creating any problems any any risks for the russian banking system. directly no. any possible impact for very negative scenarios outside russia. would filter through to the russian

banking system only through the russian real sector it is largely through the overall economic activity of the corporate sector and for the consumer. which may experience some slowdown that would in fact both volumes of the banking business and. the appetite of the credit risk from the banking sector however it is important to differentiate that russian banking sector has a very specific structure and. its bank which is anywhere between three to twenty times bigger than the nearest competitor is the next back about ten twenty banks which are feeling pretty strong and then there is a one hundred institutions which would probably soften i say i like you saying three to twenty times bigger than the competitors so you don't know the figures no i don't have the figures or your competitor to place that would you want to say no no no it depends upon upon what you look at if it's by assets then it's three times

bigger if it's by branch network we've got eight hundred thousand branches this is too complicated for me. let me get is leave it here three times bigger than h.s.b.c. globally in terms of number of branches but it's the global year to make is not again you have plans becoming global. international i would say international monetary global for a little bit let's get back to the problems that we may be facing as you came into the office today we talked about about the crisis of two thousand and eight which was enormous do you expect that something similar may happen to the russian making sector i don't think to the russian banking sector no. movie has downgraded russian banking sector recently so what does that mean do you mean that you will rise the cost of borrowing inside the country. when you say you referred to the bank you said about banking sector the cost of borrowing is driven mostly by by the level of

risk again we sense that any possible slowdown to the russian market economy would not be over shocking value but rather something that is gradual and not as dramatic and therefore maybe some gradual adjustment to the cost of credit for different type of borrowers maybe. in your view but i don't think it is going to be universal shock for everyone with a big increase in the cost of credit well there are signs that said these days russian banking system is going through sort of a liquidity squeeze does it mean that the central bank will be tightening its monthly policy in the near future well. central with respect to the monetary policy and liquidity in the banking sector not necessarily tightening what systemic

duty central bank is to perform is to make sure that the. system is coherent and operates. stable e in any conditions that the market may weather. whilst dighton ing would rather apply to much closer attention to the quality and stability of particular institutions that are members of the system i don't think. this edition is of is very similar to two thousand and eight this time the regulator has a very. diverse set of instruments to support systemically quiddity that have been used and tested in two thousand and eight and nine quite successfully and. regulator in russia central bank is now very vigilant and is capable of fine tuning the situation very precisely well you so not to mistake you should so have to mistake but as burbank your bank has has raised its deposit rates

isn't it a sign of the problem is however the credit squeeze everything. not necessarily. the. you do understand the sugar actually one has to remember that in the overall context russia and russian savers have been living in an environment of negative real savings rates and the it just means that we do now our bureau lee to. keep him keep the rates in line with what's going in the overall interest rate environment in the country yes the rates have gone up somewhat but i don't think that the changes that we're doing at that dramatic on the back drop off of the cuts in the rates that the banking sector have done in the preceding two years we read in the press that the central bank has boosted measures to counter the funding squeeze providing three knowing servan billion rubles which is thirteen billion us

two lenders in overnight repurchase options are looked at which works well i don't really know what that mean means but. this means support to the backs so do you think that this support will continue. well this means us being an active market maker in the report market which is from the standpoint of our risk capital it fits the perception very well because it actually is the least risky way for us making sure that the excess of liquidity that we have got works well and marian's as money well the second and this is the primary reason for that the second reason for that it also indirectly you greece is liquidity in the banking sector and this is where our commercial interest coincides with the benefit of the overall market which is very often the true because simply in terms of all relative size to single economy in a single banking sector probably the biggest bank in the world well the russian bankers

have been learning from the west because the system is pretty. pretty young alina and only twenty years since it has been started to merrill we've been seeing what's going on in the west here of the banks there are the governments car prayed to overcome problems so looking at the example of the united states and other countries as a worst case scenario could russian banks be seeking bailouts from the states will the russian banks be doing that what do you think well some of them may have and we've seen that back in two thousand and eight and you hundred thousand nine i think the russian banking sector went off not as heavily damaged by the crisis as it could have. and as compared to the banking sectors in the west and definitely as compared to what is going now in europe so one can never rule this out this will

extremely unlikely to happen because our operation is actually in reverse the worse the environment. the more excessive liquidity we get because we become the safety haven't and the more margins were able to the sweeter margins were able to command because we've become the lender of last resort and we can choose moody or us again moody's rates dept of the burbank eighty three which is the fourth lowest investment grade and one level above the government does that mean that it's very banks will be renewing and reviewing its business policy. for what purpose for the purpose of technically following in the ratings i don't think so we well you know i don't know but you all say we don't care about ratings i think even the prime minister said we don't care what norwegians would you do i know you do but we do care about the ratings but i think. going as far as saying oh

you change your strategy for the sake of improving your rating would be a bit and over like like like me like. it better no it was true volatile the fundamental conflict competitive advantages of spare bank transcending and not only ratings but generations and it is our strategy is to make the most of them commercially on one side but on the other side not to forget that it is satisfying the needs of the clients the briggs's the profits and you know working exclusively for profits ratings or any fact financial parameter alone disregarding your client is a dead end you should go there will always well the client is profits yes so disregarding the client also means this regarding profits i mean you know doctors your banker. says on the cut i was in deputy c.e.o. of the bag spotlight who would be back shortly right out to

a break so stay where you are we'll get back in the. discovery. communicate with you want to. test yourself and become. see what nature can give you on the. mission. critical three is for free. range month free. free. free.

download free volunteer video for your media projects free media don carty dot com . welcome back to spotlight i am now going over and just to remind you that my guest today here in the studio is. deputy c.e.o. of the burbank the largest bank in russia which is celebrating its one hundred seventy birthday on the twelfth of november. we talked about a bit about problems that the russian banking system may be facing world banks all over the world may be facing problems these days let's talk about different things let's talk about about the perspectives. you are i know reportedly looking at then these bank of the turkish arm of dexia it's

a pretty large bank in turkey and you want to see it as a potential acquisition target so what are the conditions for you to start buying like an innocent like this which is pretty big. again the size is all in relative terms if you measure it against our own business it is not that significant. specifically is an interesting market for us we don't think we have. particular. focus on a specific target be that denise or anything at this moment. we. overall broader part of your question will rule think about our international expansion in the context that. it is something that will be fundamentally fundamental to our future in seven ten fifteen years rather than something that is

that is very urgent today because strategically for us our top ten priorities are domestic and within c.i.s. within c.i.s. well represented already. so it is rather thinking about the future growth prospects of burbank that we are looking at markets like china india eastern europe and that region barton bottle including turkey i don't think there's any immediate deal that is right on the table with concrete negotiations at the moment. but the also means that we will continue to look at those markets carefully well you mentioned the c.i.s. or the former soviet countries i've recently been to kiev and talking to all toward really people i've heard the interesting thing they said that when ukraine has. separated society after the session from the years the summer when people went to

this better class that which was what was better bank called in or you are sorry a. after or after they became independent there will be no no more money no war savings everything was taken by russia so your money are in russia and they were pocketed actually backed by moscow and that was that was reportedly seventy billion u.s. dollars well this was every good propaganda thing of course but what of what wasn't true i don't think so well legally the big bank of the savings bank of the soviet union was split into two parts in accordance with the new jurisdictions the russian part went to russia the ukrainian stayed in. in ukraine belarus like other stand everywhere and while the bank back than. wasn't particularly well capitalized and liquid and there were some savings lost back in the big depreciation of the of the of the currency in the early ninety's so everyone lost

russian government still plays the composition of the last savings in back in ninety one through the russians in the new world was about my last two i think your family lost too but the difference is that we lost to our own government and the ukrainians feel that what they lost were pocketed by a huge at a live very bad so this is not to know that there wasn't much to pocket in the first one hundred billion us well yes you pocket something that extends of all but the money was pretty much lost by the bank of the soviet union. universally. so you know i think there's there's a bit of an accurate to equitable loss while parts of the soviet society and then it going sided with the fact that the joined out into service to separate governments so this is burbank's head get a real good if your boss said that the condition for a for a for this privatization is the price of one hundred roubles for a share for

a single share is burbank so the question is can this burbank start rip out of its own share in order to reach this goal i don't think it will change investment if anything from what we hear from the international investors community this privatization is perceived as a very positive signal. that can only be perceived as opposed to a signal from the standpoint that investors now trust the bank is competitive and flexible enough to not be dependent on any state help or any state support or an economic stake in the capital of this burbank overall now this proposition is obviously just a part of it's bringing this dig down from fifty seven point six percent to fifty percent plus one share. which is. large ish in absolute size but in relative terms of the market represents just a few trading days in spare bank stock so the timing. as to when

it will happen the answer is very simple when the pricing gets back to the sensible level because clearly current is very bank is undervalued. whichever way you look at it compared to fundamentals compared to competitive position to anything is not the right time now to do it i don't think immediately now it's the right day and also the selling shareholder and i'm a shareholder as well would obviously find it irrational to sell now at a price that is you know about eighty rubles today as we speak when just two three months ago it was above one hundred rubles percent so the market dislocation will need to correct itself a little bit if first before that happens your boss a bit of banks have given graph has said that the condition for the privatization is the price of one hundred roubles for one share so the question here is that you

said that you are ready it's but kills brubeck's star it represents a sing it so shares in order to to reach this goal said by growth. well repurchase of our shares buybacks of our shares we have. been considering as one of the two to manage our own capital we are somewhat excessively capitalized at the moment but we haven't considered this for the purpose of influencing the stock price. in preparation for. the privatization because that would have been called manipulation and we're not wanting to be seen to do that so. if you do that nobody will go out and no one will know anything any time this prevent my want to consider this it will do it in the most transparent and appropriate manner as required by all the exchanges the listed in and all the

regulations in all jurisdictions that were trading. earlier this year you yourself were quoted as saying that you were planning to to to to to start listing burbank on the london sky stock exchange are you still planning that and then how is it going well for all intents and purposes since first of july this year will really our stock already has food access to trading on london stock exchange and our daily training volumes in london are now. you know one hundred or sometimes more million dollars a day our total daily trading volumes are around five six hundred million dollars of which a big part is in london big parties and frack for frankfurt big parties in over the counter u.s. a.d.r. level ones big part in the trial the international trading platform and of course the big board in local domestic markets so. admission to trade in all those

exchanges and marketplaces requires the company to be pretty much as transparent as well governed as compliant with older english and as if it was foolish to so for that matter we sort of already there the technicalities as to which least you're wrong we may consider a bit later on within the next few months but from the standpoint of an investor who fully tradeable anywhere. well you mentioned early in this interview mention going global it goes i realise certainly that this anniversary you're celebrating these days hundred seventy birthday you're holding a conference which is an international conference a global conference where you setting goals and so the two thousand and twenty one is of the ten years ten years ahead are these plans that your discussing and this are they really globalizing a bank of really becoming becoming the world bank well our key driver is the

success for both our clients and our investors it definitely means us becoming international globality is a much bigger and it would be unwise for us to remove it to come immediately. we will possibly come to that later on but the topic of the. of our conference is not necessarily about telling the whole of the world housebreak is going to become global now we are embracing the new concept of crowdsourcing and we want to run a number of projects to use crowdsourcing to the boss of marks and possible effect and to show the results of this project of what the crowdsourcing can produce as possible solutions and directions for russia as the marketplace was very bank as. a bank it is striving to become one of the best in the world doesn't equal global but one of the best in the world. includes international and how to make

russian market a very attractive place so the results of that crowdsourcing exercise try to find those directions and solutions are going to be presented to the global economic community on our conference and i think this this is something new that no one has done at this scale before and that could be very interesting. last question. when people from gazprom come here they say we're shareholders of gaspar you say i'm a shareholder of spirit bank and so and so forth does that mean that being in the finance business. putting your money into somewhere it isn't i mean it's it's not a matter of business matter of of trust. of course it's like it's like a religion of religion. it is it is rather trust into something that you also know very much both scientifically. for me

so thank you thank you very much for being with us today and just to remind you that my guest on the show was on concrete on the scene deputy c.e.o. this very boat had that sense but all of the spotlight would be back with more than carbon fiber was going on then and. until then stay on r.t. and take as it.

from los angeles to chicago to birmingham twenty trauma centers have closed since two thousand severe problem is not enough inpatient beds not on the third emergency department beds and not enough nurses. to take care of all the people who are the only real health care system that we have in the city of los angeles is the los angeles fire department in fact when i started my venture as a firefighter i didn't want to be a mass so i started out running just do firefighting it's about eighty two percent of what we do the florida problem this medical. school waited for hours for i've waited sometimes three hours and i was it's

a same francis in lynnwood for four hours and fifty minutes standing against a wall of patients and we have a federal law that mandates that you can't turn no one away who seeks care in an emergency room. we have the most expensive health care system in the world and it's probably valued the least. the italian parliament has fought in the prove to a sweeping new austerity initiative paving the way for silvio berlusconi's resignation as the country strains to restore confidence in its faltering economy.

the arab league decides to suspend the sanctions syria in an effort to force assad to stop the bloodshed in the country the moves of a western backed repeat of the libyan scenario. for travelers turns into a high profile discussions as the heads of the asia pacific nations gather in hawaii hoping to isolate themselves from the spreading eurozone. rices. international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day italy's lower house of parliament has given its final approval to a vast new austerity package it's hoped the move will steer the country away from the financial abyss it's been teetering on passing the tough cuts was a precondition under which prime minister silvio berlusconi agreed to step down the p.m.c. though won't remain vacant for long with veteran.