Herman Gref, CEO of Russia’s Sberbank, was received by Vladimir Putin to report on the bank’s performance in 2019, presidential web page reports.
At the meeting, Gref noted “hefty profits. According to Russian accounting standards our profits amounted to RUR 860 bln ($13.5 bln) after taxes. Our profits in January 2020 amounted to RUR 80 bln after taxes. This is the result of hard work, cost saving and the introduction of new technology.”
Overall profits grew by 14% y-o-y, yet “Taking into account the ruble exchange rate, the portfolio of loans to corporates has decreased by approximately 1.5%, while portfolio of loans to private individuals increased by 18.5% last year.”
“Today, we already extend about 20% of our loans to medium- and small-sized businesses in automatic mode in seven minutes. We want to increase this share to about 80–90%, and it will grow up to 100% by 2023. Today, 98% of individuals in our country receive loans based on automated decisions, and 70% is the figure we are striving for in terms of legal entities. 30% of transactions will remain complex, they will still require human involvement,” Gref said.