ANDREY KASHEVAROV: ONE OF THE LEADING IDEAS OF THE NATIONAL COMPETITION DEVELOPMENT PLAN IS TO "STOP" STATISM IN ALL SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY

A breakthrough on the financial market is possible only with changing the attitude of its participants

Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Kashevarov talked about it on 8 June 2018 at a panel session "Competition on the financial market: obstacles and solutions " of the XXVII International Financial Congress in St Petersburg.

According to him, FAS has long been taking vigorous efforts on competition advocacy, and now the time has come to comprehend, how much more the state should develop in the economy. "One of the leading ideas of 2018-2020 National Plan for Developing Competition in Russia is to "stop" statism in all sectors. Private business and initiative should be boosted because it is the basis of economic development. The breakthrough in the economy will be possible if we change the attitude of market players and accept this concept as the model for regulation”, said Deputy Head of the antimonopoly authority.

"Now the state share in the banking system is around of 64-66% depending on a segment, and it keeps growing”, pointed out Andrey Kashevarov. “Here we found a consensus with the Bank of Russia as to what should be done: banning its further growth.  There is also an understanding how the bans can be administered so they are for the benefit rather than harm”.

He indicated an importance of a transition to credit rankings as a requirement for banks when granting access to depositing budgetary funds, issuing bank guarantees and subsidies programmes. The size of own capital, state participation in the authorized capital of a bank should not be used as requirements.

"We should finally eliminate a paradoxical situation when the state first selects “good” banks for its needs and then also selects “good” borrowers for those banks", mentioned Andrey Kashevarov in this context.

He also informed about the “Road Map” for developing competition on the financial markets, that FAS has started working on together with the Bank of Russia in accord with the National Plan; and about establishing Working Groups in different areas. "We should do everything possible to implement the Presidential order. We have reached a consensus with the Bank of Russia on many issues and now we invite the market to be involved, emphasizing that this is not the final part of the document and we are ready to move forward”, explained Deputy Head of FAS.

At the XXVII International Financial Congress, the Bank of Russia also presented an analytical report, drafted jointly with FAS, that among other matters, comprises information about a package of approved measures to facilitate development of competition on the financial market.