Russia looks to replace Western loans with Islamic finance

Islamic finance could help Russian companies hit by Western sanctions to gain access to credit, Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, said at the Kazan Summit Forum. According to Rustam Minnikhanov, Russian banks, including the country’s largest bank Sberbank, are currently showing an interest in Islamic finance. One of the advocates of the development of Islamic banking in Russia is the head of Sberbank, former Russian Minister of Economic Development, German Gref. Minnikhanov also said that the development of Islamic banking in Russia should be done on a federal level and that there is no talk of creating a unique financial zone in Tatarstan.