Vnesheconombank Chairman V.A. Dmitriev’s Interview to the TV Channel Russia 24

TV Channel Russia 24,
29.12.2012, 16:41

HOST: What are the results of managing the funded portion of pensions, how is the investment climate developing in the Far East, how long will the program of stimulating mortgage lending last, how is the program of supporting automotive and other sectors coming along? Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev answered these and other questions in his exclusive interview to our TV channel.

Interview

Host Evelina Zakamskaya

HOST: Good afternoon Vladimir Alexandrovich.

Vladimir DMITRIEV, Vnesheconombank Chairman: Good afternoon.

HOST: Vnesheconombank’s scope of activities is Russia’s entire economy – almost all its sectors. What did the outgoing year show? What were the top-priority lines of activity? How many projects did you manage to fund?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: Our priorities are specified by law and the Memorandum on Vnesheconombank’s Financial Policies. And the number of top priority lines of activity is constantly on the rise. Quite recently, new changes have been introduced. They deal with lending to medium-sized enterprises and above all projects in multi-profile entities, mono-cities where a lending limit was reduced to half a billion rubles provided that a project is worth no less than one billion rubles, whereas we fund projects that are worth no less than two billion rubles and the Bank’s own participation share is a billion rubles. We still regard infrastructure in all sectors as our top priority; here I mean transport, energy, communal services and social infrastructure. And a whole number of infrastructure projects are already being implemented on the principles of public private partnership. Other top priority sectors are mechanical engineering, transport and aviation industries. We are actively funding such automakers as Ford Sollers, AvtoVAZ and KAMAZ. You know that at one of its recent meetings the Bank’s Supervisory Board approved a program of supporting AvtoVAZ investment activity in the amount of 60 billion rubles. We are also working actively with such aircraft manufacturers as Sukhoi and Irkut and Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It’s important that we provide support for aircraft manufacturers at a R&D stage. This was the case with the Sukhoi-35 advanced military plane. We provide support for Russia’s civil aviation industry. And we started to provide comprehensive support for exports of Russian aircraft abroad. We give top priority to comprehensive development of territories, creating

territorial-production clusters. We also make significant contribution to developing agriculture. These are the key lines of our activity including providing support for small and medium-sized enterprises through our subsidiary SME Bank.

HOST: Infrastructure projects should be advanced with the help of long-term money. And this money is in short supply in the Russian economy and their amount will decrease as the Government made a decision to reduce allocations to the funded portion of pensions. What does this mean for Vnesheconombank?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: Vnesheconombank is also a state managing company responsible for managing the funded portion of pension funds. There are about a trillion and a half rubles under our management. Unfortunately, sixty percent of these funds are invested in government bonds and only 17 percent is invested in the real economy here I mean investments in Russian issuers’ bonds. And these issuers are not numerous. And some funds – about 15 percent are placed on deposits in Russian banks. We can say that this money is also working for the economy although this is short-term money; we extend this money to banks for a period of one year. The fact that most of pension funds are invested in government bonds  and that we can’t sell them at a good profit because of the market volatility and channel them to the real sector of the economy limits our maneuverability. But on the other hand we can invest our liquid resources in Russian issuers’ bonds. We realize that changes in contributions to the funded portion of pensions from six to two percent will significantly influence the amount of resources which Vnesheconombank and also nongovernmental pension funds and managing companies will be able to invest in the real sectors of the economy. We hope that people will make decisions in favor of forming long-term ruble resources which will be invested in the real sector of the economy. Working with nongovernmental pension funds we intend to mould mentality of our people. People should understand that it makes sense to make a decision in favor of six-percent contributions to the funded portion of pensions and that this money will be invested in the real sector of the economy.

HOST: Efficient management of pension funds will help Russians to make the right decision. What results does Vnesheconombank show?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: Vnesheconombank shows stable results above inflation. We are not so volatile as nongovernmental pension funds and managing companies. With our conservative approach to forming our investment portfolio and with most of our investments in government bonds we demonstrate stable yields above inflation. For nine months of this year the yield ratio with regard to the extended investment portfolio was 8.2 percent. And with regard to the portfolio formed from government bonds the yield ratio was also above inflation. This means that in general our yield ratios have been above inflation in the last years.

HOST: In 2012, the state acknowledged it necessary to develop the Far East as fast as possible and Vnesheconombank will take and is already taking an active part in it. You have approved the creation of agro-parks in the Far East and you intend to support infrastructure projects. Can we say that these investments are attractive? Do other investors besides Vnesheconombank show interest in them?

Vladimir DMITRIEV: I can’t tell you about other banks’ performance indicators. I know that they are actively operating in the Far East. We are already implementing projects in the Far East in the amount of about ninety billion rubles, with Vnesheconombank’s participation share in these projects being more than fifty billion rubles. Naturally, the Far East is an attractive region. But in order to ensure this region’s investment appeal for Russian and foreign investors, partners of Russian commercial banks should be convinced that the state shares or reduces their risks. And these risks can be reduced through creating infrastructure and favorable investment conditions including social ones. In this sense, it’s very important to create an appropriate institutional environment for investors. Here I mean the Far East and the Baikal Region Development Fund. We established this Fund at the end of the last year and it has already started operating. I’m also talking about the Russian Direct Investment Fund. When taking a decision to establish the Far East and the Baikal Region Development Fund we assumed that its capital would be formed in the amount of 500 million rubles and that Vnesheconombank would extend subordinated loans in the amount 70 billion rubles through using credit facilities thus engaging Russian commercial banks for investment projects in this region and making available financial resources in the total amount of 900 billion rubles. But the situation has changed fundamentally. A decision was made that the Finance Ministry would provide 15 billion rubles to the Bank’s capital to be used to capitalize the Far East and the Baikal Region Development Fund. We expect to receive these funds today. We are also working with foreign investors. And by the way, focusing on projects in the Far East and the Baikal region the Russian Direct Investment Fund has established jointly with the China Investment Corporation a Fund in the amount of two billion dollars. This Fund is designed to capitalize Russian companies in this region. So, the situation is developing dynamically and favorably.

HOST: There is another Russia trouble – the notorious housing problem. Will the state program of mortgage lending be prolonged? Vnesheconombank supported this program as not all banks can meet Vnesheconombank’s requirements and gain access to preferential financing.

Vladimir DMITRIEV: This is really the case, you are well informed. The program is advancing. We’ll have to prolong  it as there is no other way out. The reason for it is that out of 50 billion rubles allocated to buy out bonds and extend credits to people, 80 % has been extended in the form of credits. But of 11 banks included in this program, only one bank, namely, VTB-24, and the Housing Mortgage Lending Agency managed to issue mortgage bonds thus securitizing the credit extended. What’s the problem? The problem is to register title to new housing.

The problem is to form a pool of homogeneous credits. The problem is to register title to housing which is built under this program and which becomes security of bonds being issued. So, we hope that the year 2013 will be a record one and we’ll have to prolong the program for a year. But the program is working and even if we have funds and do not use them to buy out bonds we extend preferential credits to commercial banks which are included in this program through using Vnesheconombank’s funds. You should remember that in 2009, when Vnesheconombank received 175 billion rubles on deposit from the National Wealth Fund to support the Russian stock market, we received a premium of 100 billion rubles. And sometimes I hear people say why the National Wealth Fund should give money to Vnesheconombank it earned a lot of money. But financial resources of the National Wealth Fund are designed for other purposes. We earned money but of 100 billion rubles we use 50 billion rubles to fund the mortgage lending program by extending credit facilities at a rate of 3% per annum. There are no such low rates on the Russian market. We used 30 billion rubles to capitalize the Export Credit Agency of Russia. We used the remaining money to support the programs aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. I think that in this sense it is appropriate to say that the state earned money thanks to professionalism of the Bank’s employees who managed to earn a lot of money in the unstable situation on the stock market and used it to achieve top-priority national objectives.

HOST: Thank you. I wish you every success.

Vladimir DMITRIEV: Thank you Evelina. All the best to you.