According to the laws of borrowed time - Newspaper Kommersant No. 175 (7376) of 09/22/2022

According to the laws of borrowed time - Newspaper Kommersant No. 175 (7376) of 09/22/2022



The Central Bank recommended that credit institutions provide mobilized borrowers with vacations and restructurings, without imposing fines and worsening credit history. Bankers only say that they will follow the recommendations of the regulator, and are waiting for clarification. Microfinanciers believe that the situation will not be worse than the covid one, but they see the risk of an increase in defaults.

The Bank of Russia posted a message on its website for credit institutions, recommending that they provide vacations to citizens mobilized in accordance with the presidential decree. They will be able to apply to a bank or microfinance organization for a deferral of payments or a reduction in their size for all types of loans and credits, including mortgages, for the period of mobilization.

Banks, MFIs and other professional lenders should meet such borrowers and develop special programs for loan holidays and restructuring, the Central Bank explains. It is also recommended not to accrue a penalty under contracts, not to demand early fulfillment of obligations, to suspend the collection of overdue debts or mortgage housing, not to evict it if foreclosure is levied. Banks, MFIs, and credit reference agencies should not consider such restructurings to be detrimental to a borrower's credit history. Similar rights are granted to close relatives of borrowers, according to the materials of the Central Bank. In the future, special credit holidays may be enshrined in law.

At the same time, the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, said in the morning that citizens who fell under partial mobilization would continue to pay their mortgages. As Sergei Uchitel, a partner at the Pen & Paper Bar Association, explained, benefits for military personnel and equivalent categories of citizens are not currently applicable to persons subject to mobilization. The status of a veteran and invalid of military operations has been granted to persons performing tasks during military operations since February 24. This made it possible to extend to them tax, transport, land, housing measures of social support, as well as benefits for paying utility bills, the lawyer notes. However, he clarifies, even for them, mortgage deferrals are not provided for by law.

The creditors interviewed by Kommersant consider it premature to comment on the initiatives of regulators and statements of officials, explaining that they need to wait for official clarifications, statistics, and “digest the information”. MFC Migcredit and HCF-Bank only emphasized that they would follow all the recommendations of the regulator.

At the same time, granting a deferral for the fulfillment of obligations on loans and borrowings for military personnel taking part in hostilities is a standard practice in financial organizations, and the recommendation of the Bank of Russia is only the actual consolidation of “best practices” in the activities of all professional creditors, assures the deputy chairman of the expert Council of the Central Bank for the protection of the rights of consumers of financial services Elman Mehdiyev. According to him, taking into account the number of persons declared for partial mobilization, such a restructuring is unlikely to have a significant impact on the quality of loan portfolios.

“According to Webbankir statistics, military personnel account for 3-4% of all loans, which cannot seriously affect the financial situation. In addition, military personnel are one of the most disciplined borrowers,” says Andrey Ponamarev, CEO of the company.

“As the experience of the pandemic has shown, less than 0.01% of borrowers applied for credit holidays. A comparable number can be predicted even now,” says Sergey Vesovshchuk, CEO of Moneyman. Even in the most unfavorable conditions, no more than 0.5–1% of borrowers among mobilized citizens may need loyalty measures or credit holidays in MFIs, Roman Makarov, CEO of Zaimer, clarifies.

However, not all experts are so optimistic. “The market is already under tremendous pressure, learning to work in conditions of limited funding, legal restrictions are constantly expanding. Of course, the MFI will meet the needs of clients, but so far the big question is the duration of such a program and the assessment of new borrowers, every second of which is a man,” Andrey Kleimenov, CEO of Eqvanta Group, fears. An increase in defaults is possible, Leonid Kornilov, head of the board of directors of Fintech group Finbridge, agrees. Additional risks, adds Yevgenia Lazareva, project coordinator of the People's Front For the Rights of Borrowers, also creates the possibility that close relatives of those mobilized may not be Ijivens and have the status of co-borrowers, but their incomes are insignificant in the structure of the family budget.

Polina Trifonova



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