Calculations on the truth – Kommersant

More than two years after the closing of the transaction for the sale of a subsidiary bank, a new non-bank credit organization (NCO) with the promising name “Truth” is being created in the perimeter of Roskosmos. The history with the subsidiary bank for the state corporation was not long and positive, the NPO format may turn out to be much easier in terms of regulation and more relevant in current tasks.

The structure from the perimeter of the state corporation “Roscosmos” created a non-bank credit organization “Istina”, follows from the data of the Central Bank, published on May 2. After payment of the authorized capital (90 million rubles – the minimum amount for all NCOs), it will be issued a license for settlement NCOs to carry out operations with funds in rubles and foreign currency.

The Central Bank did not disclose details, indicating only that it would specialize in servicing corporate clients.

There are currently 35 NGOs in Russia.

As follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the founder of the newly created NPO is RK Finance JSC. The latter is owned by United Rocket and Space Corporation JSC (URSC, 100% controlled by Roscosmos, reports show). RK Finance was established in 2019 “in order to implement a project to manage non-core assets of enterprises included in the perimeter of Roscosmos Group of Companies.”

It is noteworthy that in 2020 Roscosmos sold its bank (Roscosmosbank, see Kommersant dated January 28, 2021) Promsvyazbank. Then in the Civil Code, commenting on the deal, they noted that the bank is a non-core asset “and for the further continuation of its successful development, it is necessary to modernize IT technologies both in the retail and corporate parts of the business, which is possible only if the investor makes significant investments.” What forced now to create a new credit institution, the Kommersant state corporation did not answer. But from the time of the deal to the moment of the creation of the NPO, there were personnel changes in Roscosmos itself. In mid-2022, Dmitry Rogozin, who headed the state corporation since 2018, left this post. He was replaced at that time by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov.

At the same time, state corporations like Roskosmos, such as Rostec, have banks (Novikombank, RFK-Bank, Evrofinance Mosnarbank). Also, the company VK (VK) (Dengi Mail.Ru), the Interros group (RNKO YUSIES) and other structures also have their own settlement NBCOs.

Igor Dubov, a partner at Iontsev, Lyakhovsky & Partners, notes that the regulation of NPOs is significantly different from the regulation of banking: “For NPOs, there are different requirements for the size of the authorized capital, for the size of own funds. In addition, issues related to the functioning of an NPO are much easier than for a bank.” Therefore, says Mr. Dubov, the costs associated with maintaining an NPO are much lower, and the risks of license revocation and bankruptcy for the founder are also much lower.

The expert admits that the desire to consolidate settlements with companies within the perimeter of the state corporation could serve as a possible reason for the creation of an NPO for Roskosmos.

The real reasons for the creation should be known to the regulator. “When creating any credit institution, the set of documents includes a business plan that is analyzed by the Central Bank,” concludes Igor Dubov.

Formally, the departure of Roskosmos from a bank to an NPO can also be explained by the relevance of the tasks covered by the settlement NPO, Kommersant’s interlocutors say. On the balance sheet of Roscosmosbank, which was being reorganized, there were problem assets (more than 60% of the loan portfolio consisted of “bad” debts, see Kommersant dated August 26, 2020).

“Istina” will receive a license for a settlement NPO. There are differences between settlement and payment NCOs. The payment NBCO is mainly engaged in maintaining accounts and settlements of legal entities, as well as transfers of individuals without opening accounts, explains Anatoly Perfilyev, junior director for banking ratings at Expert RA. “A settlement NBCO provides a slightly wider range of operations, namely, in addition to the functions of a payment NBCO, it can carry out the purchase and sale of foreign currency and certain activities in the securities market,” he concludes.

In “Roskosmos” did not answer “Kommersant”.

Olga Sherunkova