Russian MinFin backs Islamic banking bill - source

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - The Russian Finance Ministry has given its backing to a bill on conducting a two-year experiment to introduce Islamic banking on the territory of Dagestan, Chechnya, Bashkortostan, and Tatarstan, from February 1, 2023, a ministry source told Interfax.

The source said the ministry's position had been forwarded to the Central Bank, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, the Justice Ministry and Economic Development Ministry.

A group of deputies led by Russian State Duma Financial Markets Committee head Anatoly Aksakov at the end of September submitted to the parliament a bill, No. 198584-8, "on conducting an experiment to establish special regulation in order to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of partner financing activities in certain constituent entities of the Russian Federation."

The territory of the experiment and its duration can be increased by the Russian government in agreement with the Central Bank.

The register of participants in the experimental legal regime will be kept by the Central bank.

Experiment participants have the right to provide loans to legal entities and individuals without charging interest; and to finance legal entities and individuals by signing purchase and sale contracts, including for real estate, with installments. Participants have no right to charge interest or finance activities associated with the production or trade in tobacco, alcohol products, weapons and munitions, and gambling business.