16 Feb 2006 12:22

Interfax-CEA Launches Interfax-1000 – CIS Banks Review

The Interfax Center for Economic Analysis (Interfax-CEA) has issued the Interfax-1000 – CIS Banks review, which for the first time enables a comparison of all the major banks in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries in terms of asset value and other financial indicators.

“Banking systems in CIS countries are becoming less disconnected and the flow of bank capital from one country to another is becoming stronger,” Interfax-CEA General Director Mikhail Matovnikov said. “The time has come when for many banks it is a mistake to view them solely within national borders and without an understanding of the wider context it is impossible to understand the development trend of different banking systems,” he said.
The top three banks in the Interfax-1000 are Russia’s Sberbank, Vneshtorgbank and Gazprombank and the top ten includes two Kazakh banks (Kazkommertsbank and Bank TuranAlem). Ukraine’s largest bank, Privatbank, is ranked number 14.
The list has information on assets, capital, loan portfolios and funds raised for 1,000 CIS banks (815 Russian and 185 banks from other CIS countries) as of July 1 2005 and January 1 2005. The review also contains a short description of banking systems in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.

*** The Center for Economic Analysis is an analytical center, which is part of the Interfax International Group and provides macroeconomic forecasts, analyses the situation on financial markets and regional economies, and reports on tendencies in the money market in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The CEA‘s most popular editions are rankings of Russia‘s largest banks and insurance companies, known as Interfax-100, highly reputed among players on the financial market.