She said negotiations with ten WTO countries, including the EU, have been completed. "As for the ban on [foreign bank] branching, we have upheld our position," Ms. Mayorova said.
She added that this issue was yet to be negotiated with the U.S., Switzerland, Japan, Norway, Australia, India, Turkey and some Latin American nations.
She also said that Russian negotiators insisted on numerical limitations for foreign capital shares in Russian banks.
According to earlier reports, at its talks with the WTO, the Russians supported a condition of 25 percent of foreign capital in the Russian banking system. However, Ms. Mayorova did not name any specific figure for the quota currently under discussion. At the same time, she noted that it would be a figure that would prevent foreign bank domination.
Gagerin Tosunyan, the president of the Russian Bank Association, took the floor at the press conference and said that the banking community saw 10-15 percent of foreign capital as an acceptable quota. Besides, he added, the quota for individual foreign non-resident banks should be fixed at 1-2 percent.
Mr. Tosunyan also stressed that the banking community, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, and the Central Bank unanimously believed that Russia is not ready for foreign bank branching, as foreign banks are not subject to the Russian law and do not have to bear the burden Russian banks must.
He also said that some Russian banks intended to make foreign investments, and that the conditions for them "should be symmetrical there."
