Volume of Russian regional loans issued by Sberbank to be refinanced via federal budget could reach 250 bln rubles - Gref
MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - The volume of loans to Russian regions issued by Sberbank and which could potentially be refinanced at the expense of the federal budget is about 250 billion rubles, there are no problems with placement of released funds, Sberbank chief Herman Gref told reporters.
"The potential refinancing volume could reach somewhere around 250 billion rubles. We have no problems with this today: the market is reviving, we are seeing a great demand for loans, so we can easily place the released liquidity in even more profitable instruments," Gref said.
Sberbank has a significant amount of funds issued to Russian regions due to the fact that it is the largest lender in the market, he said. "Such negotiations [on substituting budget funds for regional loans] are not yet being held specifically due to the fact that money for refinancing has not yet arrived, but as it comes in, I think we will be ready for it," Gref said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly that budget loans allocated to regions in 2020 to combat the effects of the coronavirus should be restructured, extending them through 2029. He also added that the entire volume of commercial debt of regions exceeding 25% of their own revenues will be replaced by budget loans with repayment through 2029. Support for regional budgets in terms of reducing the share of commercial loans to 25% of the region's revenues will total 176 billion rubles, the Russian Finance Ministry said earlier.