The largest bank
in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe is looking to promote investment activity
by implementing its clients’ projects in both conventional and Islamic finance
through cooperation with funds, financial institutions and other bodies in the
Middle East.
Sberbank has also
signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala Investment
Company to “explore opportunities of mutual benefits”.
The agreement
covers cooperation in areas including co-investments, debt and equity
financing, long-term financing of Mubadala projects in Russia and other
territories.
It also includes
the potential cooperation and investments in a broad range of areas including
Islamic finance, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, life sciences, venture
capital, telemedicine and education.
Mubadala has
$232.2 billion of assets under management. The biggest portion of its portfolio
is parked in North America (38%), followed by UAE (28%) and Europe (20%).
In 2019 Mubadala
consolidated with Abu Dhabi state investor International Petroleum Investment
Company and Abu Dhabi Investment Council. It made $14.4 billion in total
comprehensive income compared to $3.4 billion in 2018.
Sberbank held
30.9 trillion rubles in assets in August. In 2019 it reported 96.2 million
active retail clients and 2.6 million active corporate clients. It posted 845
billion rubles ($11.07 billion) in net profit last year, up from 832 billion
rubles in 2018.
The bank is new
to Islamic finance. In August it announced that it had structured a trade
finance deal, its first-ever, with the International Islamic Trade Finance
Corporation (ITFC). The deal was handled by its subsidiary bank in Switzerland.