At the end of 2022, the share of leasing in the GDP of the Russian Federation fell from 1.7% to 1.6%

In the first months of 2023, the volume of new business in leasing in the Russian Federation increased in quantitative terms by 27%. However, the overall level of use of the tool in the country is extremely low and declining. Thus, at the end of 2022, the share of leasing in the GDP of the Russian Federation fell from 1.7% to 1.6%. This is several times lower than, for example, in the developing countries of Eastern Europe. In Russia, in addition to sanctions and other restrictions, the growth in the use of leasing is constrained by the high cost of long-term financing and the regulatory framework that does not allow the development of some promising segments.

As follows from the data of the National Rating Agency (NRA), which Kommersant got acquainted with, the share of leasing in the country’s GDP (calculated as the ratio of the volume of new leasing business to GDP) amounted to 1.6% at the end of last year against 1.7% a year previously. “Meanwhile, in the Russian Federation, based on the high degree of depreciation of fixed assets — 40% at the end of 2022 — the figure should be about 3%,” the authors of the study believe. Emerging markets in Eastern Europe have a much higher share of GDP leasing, due to their need to renew fixed assets compared to advanced economies. So, for comparison, the share of leasing in Estonia’s GDP is 4.2%, in Lithuania – 3.8%, Poland – 3.4%.

The rather low share of leasing in investments in fixed assets is also noteworthy: in Russia, the indicator at the end of 2022 was 7% against 8% in 2021. On average in Europe it is 15%.

Experts do not expect a serious improvement in the situation. In the coming years, the development of the leasing industry will be constrained by a shortage of leasing items due to sanctions restrictions and a breakdown in logistics ties (see Kommersant on January 25), says Sergey Grishunin, managing director of the NRA. At the same time, in the first quarter of 2023, the volume of new business, expressed in the number of leased items, increased by 27%, to 131 thousand units (from 103 thousand units in the first quarter of 2022), follows from the NRA data. Data on the volume of new business in terms of money is not yet available. At the end of 2022, the indicator amounted to 1.98 trillion rubles, 13% lower than a year earlier. In 2023, market participants expect growth of 10-15%.

“The leasing industry is embedded in the financial and economic system of every country. Being only one of the possible financing tools for business, leasing is forced to compete with other mechanisms,” says Suren Asaturov, Deputy Director of the Financial Institutions Rating Group of ACRA. The banking sector, still a key provider of finance to the economy, “imposes strong price competition through cheaper funding,” he said. “Leasing as a form is always medium and long-term financing,” explains the expert. number of assets.

As soon as the availability of long money in the economy increases and their cost decreases, the focus of financial institutions will shift towards leasing due to its higher security, since the subject of leasing remains in the ownership of the leasing company, Guram Kudryavtsev, CEO of Rosbank Leasing, believes.

Nevertheless, against the backdrop of a reduction in the business’s own investment opportunities, the demand for a leasing instrument, given its availability compared to a loan, began to grow, they say in Interleasing. This can be seen from the number of clients and the growth in the size of contracts (see Kommersant of May 22). In order for growth to continue, it is necessary to expand state support measures and extend them to a larger number of leasing companies, Tatyana Pozdnyakova, director of the United Leasing Association, believes. In the long term, Mr. Asaturov adds, “the introduction of risk-reducing regulation could stimulate the interest of lenders and investors in leasing, providing a stable and affordable funding base.”

Polina Trifonova