A Muslim bank will appear in Russia: it works according to Sharia law

The creation of a credit and financial organization for the countries of the Middle East was announced at the economic forum

Projects that are being prepared in deep secrecy from mere mortals usually become known on the sidelines of major economic forums. So it turned out at SPIEF-23 in St. Petersburg that the Russian government has plans to create Islamic banking in the country. It does not work quite the same way (more precisely, not at all like that) as classical financial structures.

The secret on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg forum was revealed by Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma committee on the financial market. It is expected that the law on Islamic banking will be adopted by the deputies in the spring session. But at the same time, the start of the experiment, which will last two years, will not be shelved – it will start in two and a half months, on September 1. And it will take place in four Russian regions where the majority of Muslims live: Dagestan, Chechnya, Bashkortostan and Tatarstan.

Banks, microfinance organizations, consumer credit cooperatives located on the territory of these subjects will be able to take part in the experiment.

Why are Islamic investors not particularly in a hurry to invest their capital in ordinary Russian banks? Not everyone knows, but Islam has its own principles that financiers do not want to compromise. In particular, according to Islamic laws, it is forbidden to collect remuneration in the form of loan interest, to finance any activity related to the production of tobacco products, alcohol, weapons, ammunition, including trade in these goods.

According to the deputy, many Muslim countries, including Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia, became interested in the potential Russian financial instrument.

It is believed that the Islamic type of investment for our economy is preferable to the classical one. And soon we will be able to check it.

According to financial analyst Sergei Drozdov, the Islamic bank is a purely ethnic story. Russia is a multinational power, we have a fairly large number of deeply religious Muslims. They do not drink or smoke and follow strict Islamic rules. The bank, first of all, is created for such a group of the population, for their comfort. But this is a “niche” topic. According to the analyst, the Islamic bank can raise funds in the region of $11 billion.

– For our economy, this amount is very modest, – he says. – There are businessmen in Russia who have more fortunes. It is unlikely that something super-significant will be made from this project. And even more so to bring it to the level of, say, our main credit structures in attracting customers, all the more so.

– The main difference between an Islamic bank and a classical one is that, according to Sharia law, a person is forbidden to take interest from a deposit, – says the candidate of economic sciences Mikhail Belyaev. – The bank’s activities with customers are portrayed as partnerships. A person makes a contribution, he is invested in some project – and the investor becomes a partner. Already on these conditions, he divides the profit and receives dividends.

– It seems to me that the current 6% on a deposit in an ordinary bank is a more reliable guarantee of saving funds than the profit received from the implementation of an investment project …

– As a rule, the market more or less equalizes everything, and in the end, the depositor’s income will be approximately the same as in an ordinary bank. Only in Islamic there is a religious-ideological component.

The question of creating such a financial structure has been in Russia for a long time, the expert continues: “Fifteen years ago, my students wrote essays on this topic. Now it is becoming especially in demand, since we are actively developing relations with the countries of the Middle East and other Muslim powers. Accordingly, there should be banks that know how to work with this kind of clients. In addition, Russia has a fairly high percentage of the Muslim population.”

– Only Muslims can become clients of an Islamic bank?

– I guess not only. The main thing is that a person accepts the rules of the game. Religious division is absolutely useless.