Corporate lending in January-April 2023

Sergey A. Zubov – Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Early in 2023, growth rate of bank corporate lending portfolio was at the end of the previous year, when the acceleration was recorded in this segment of the credit market. An important role in maintaining credit activity was played by such factors as the stability of the Russian economy amid sanctions pressure; intensification of enterprises’ activities in the field of import substitution, parallel imports and other activities related to overcoming the anti-Russian sanctions; refinancing of loans provided to Russian enterprises by banks of unfriendly countries, in the domestic market; as well as support measures by the government and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation aimed at implementing programs to stimulate preferential lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

Key words: Russian banking sector, corporate lending, credits for legal entities, Bank of Russia, small and medium-sized businesses, sanctions.

JEL-codes: D81, E58, G21, G38.