IslamicFinance.de

Russia continues to open new avenues and to provide new instruments for international investors through Islamic finance. Representatives of major banks and a high official of the Russian central bank will partake in the 23rd World Islamic Banking Conference in Bahrain’s capital Manama. The reason why Moscow is increasingly opening up to Islamic finance lies mainly within its quest to make up for a shortfall caused by Western sanctions. Three state-linked Russian banks, Vnesheconombank, Sberbank and Tatfondbank have all signed agreements with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in order to launch Islamic finance products. Maxim Osintsev, executive director at Sberbank, said there was now political will for Islamic finance to be developed in Russia. The ice has broken and people now understand that Islamic banking products can be in demand.