Unicredit Bank was let down by its counterparties – Kommersant

One of the largest banks with foreign capital – Unicredit Bank – at the end of 2023 faced a sharp increase in overdue debt on interbank loans (IBC), matching this indicator with the largest sanctioned Russian credit organizations. Experts explain the situation as a technical failure to fulfill obligations on the part of non-residents. For banks, an increase in delinquencies diverts resources to reserves and leads to a decrease in capital adequacy.

Data from the 101st reporting form published on the Central Bank website indicate that Unicredit Bank at the end of 2023 faced a sharp increase in overdue debt on interbank loans (IBC, account 324). The volume of balances for the month immediately increased by 14.5 billion rubles, exceeding 17 billion rubles. As a result, the share of overdue loans in the total interbank loan portfolio increased to 7.8%, whereas a month earlier it was about 1%, and as of mid-2023 – 1.1%. This is the only bank that has experienced such drastic changes in overdue payments.

NKR agency analyst Sofya Ostapenko explains that the 324th asset account takes into account overdue debt on interbank loans, deposits and other placed funds that are not repaid on time. It combines interbank transactions with both Russian credit institutions and non-residents.

Banking expert Alexey Nechaev believes that the delay could have arisen not on a classic interbank loan, but on obligations for other placed funds. This can be evidenced by the dynamics of funds in account 32.2, the volume of which decreased in December. “As a rule, this account reflects the amounts that the bank provided to other credit institutions to cover their risks, for example, a guarantee deposit, cash claims under repo transactions, etc.,” explains Mr. Nechaev. Thus, according to the expert, the delay could have arisen due to the fact that the counterparty of Unicredit Bank did not return the provided collateral on time or did not pay off the repo transaction.

From time to time, banks that are members of international financial groups experience overdue debt on interbank lending due to the difference in time zones in which counterparties are located, adds Ivan Uklein, senior director for bank ratings at the Expert RA agency.

According to Denis Taradov, partner of the Unicon auditing and consulting group, judging by the absolute value of the increase in overdue payments, “we are talking about a fairly large counterparty.” From the point of view of Russian banks, this is an “abnormal case”; such delays are rarely allowed, so this is probably the debt of a non-resident, the expert believes: “Two situations are possible: either the money arrived late due to interruptions in the receipt of payments to the Russian Federation due to sanctions, or we are talking about blocked amounts.” But overdue debts must be reserved in any case, the expert emphasizes, and this “puts pressure on profits and capital adequacy.”

Due to the December surge in overdue debts, Unicredit Bank at the beginning of 2024 took fifth place in the Russian Federation in terms of their volume. Ahead of it are mainly banks that fell under strict Western sanctions: Sberbank (40.4 billion rubles), VTB (22.1 billion rubles), Sovcombank (20.3 billion rubles), Alfa Bank (almost 17 billion rubles .). The exceptions to the list are Trust Bank (RUB 24.5 billion) and Gazenergobank (RUB 10.3 billion). In the case of Trust, we are talking about the delinquency of Russian banks whose licenses were previously revoked (72.7% accounted for Tatfondbank). All of them are 100% reserved, Trust assured.

A Kommersant source in the financial market explains that large Russian banks usually did not provide loans to non-resident banks, except in cases where they financed their own foreign subsidiaries. According to him, this is typical for Sberbank, VTB and Alfa Bank.

VTB confirmed to Kommersant that the largest share of debt falls on the bank’s assets for lending to subsidiaries from unfriendly jurisdictions, blocked as a result of foreign sanctions, in particular London-based VTB Capital Plc. Currently, VTB added, “taking into account the devaluation of the balance sheet, the main volume of interbank lending is carried out in rubles, mainly with Russian credit institutions, within the framework of mutually established interbank limits.”

Olga Sherunkova