Islamic finance set to grow in Russia with new hub in Tatarstan

Islamic finance is drawing more interest in Russia as the country struggles economically and requires fundamentally new approaches to attract investments from abroad. The sector is just beginning to grow in Russia and its perspectives were discussed during the recent Gaidar’s Forum in Moscow, one of the major annual international conferences on economy in Russia. Implementation of Islamic finance in Russia started through the so-called pilot projects in the predominantly Muslim republic of Tatarstan. It has both existing infrastructure and client base. Islamic banking could account for up to 5 per cent of the entire financial market in Russia.