10 February 2025 — From the author Press service in the News
On 6 February, a meeting of the subcommittee on Islamic finance of the All-Russian public organisation ‘Business Russia’ was held in Moscow. The subcommittee was established as part of the activities of the committee on financial services.
For reference.
The chairman of Delovaya Rossiya, Alexei Repik, is the chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the founder of the R-Pharm group of companies.
The president of Delovaya Rossiya, Pavel Titov, is the president and chairman of the board of directors of the Abrau-Dyurso group of companies.
Chairman of the Financial Services Committee of Delovaya Rossiya – Deputy Chairman of Delovaya Rossiya, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Expert Council of the Industry Development Fund, Anton Viktorovich Danilov-Danilyan.
The head of the subcommittee on Islamic finance is Renat Anvarovich Edikhanov, member of the General Council of Delovaya Rossiya and chairman of the board of AS SALYAM.
The topic of the meeting of the subcommittee on Islamic finance was the partnership capital market in the Russian Federation, namely instruments for attracting investment (sukuk bonds). The meeting was held in a mixed format, with a number of participants connected via videoconference.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, AO MICEX, AO St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange, AO Status, consulting companies, banks, financial agencies, AO Gazprombank Leasing, MGKL JSC, GAP Resurs, as well as heads and representatives of regional divisions of Delovaya Rossiya from the republics participating in the partnership (Islamic finance) experiment.
The meeting was opened by the Deputy Chairman of Delovaya Rossiya, A.V. Danilov-Danilyan. In his speech, he noted that one of the most promising areas for the development of the partnership (Islamic) financing market in the Russian Federation is attracting investment through the issuance of sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of traditional bonds. Currently, the development of the sukuk market is receiving a lot of attention in Russia: in early January this year, Deputy Prime Minister D.V. Manturov instructed the relevant ministries, together with the expert community, to prepare proposals on measures for its expansion and structuring. It was noted that the development of the Islamic financial products market in the Russian Federation is taking place in close cooperation between market participants and the regulator, represented by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, as well as relevant agencies – the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and infrastructure organisations. It was also proposed to use the subcommittee on Islamic finance as a platform for discussing and developing practical solutions aimed at developing the partnership finance market with the involvement of a wide range of representatives of business, government authorities and market participants.
The meeting continued with a speech by the head of the subcommittee on Islamic finance, R.A. Edikhanov. He described the structure of the Islamic finance market in the Russian Federation, outlined the current situation and prospects for development, taking into account the dynamic development of the financial sector. It was emphasised that all the prerequisites are currently in place for the organisation of sukuk issues on the Russian market for a wide range of issuers.
It is worth noting that the Republic of Tatarstan is showing the greatest activity in the development of Islamic finance, and issuers from the Republic could become pioneers on the sukuk market.
R.R. Khalyullin, an expert at the Russian Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance at the Russian Islamic Institute, told participants about the main forms of sukuk and the transactions underlying them. He focused separately on issues of Sharia compliance that arise in the course of practical work. Using a practical example of a transaction conducted on the Status investment platform, the expert illustrated the prospects and relevance of new Islamic financial products, in particular, liquidity exchange platforms in the partner finance market (analogous to interbank platforms in classical finance) based on investment platforms.
This topic was continued by a presentation from L.M. Mironova, CEO of Status JSC. The speaker provided detailed information about a transaction conducted last October on the Status platform to provide financing between the Sheikh Zayed Fund for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Chechen Republic) and PO Amal (Republic of Tatarstan). The transaction was organised and structured by PO AS SALYAM (Republic of Tatarstan). It was noted that the transaction was the first and fundamental for the formation of a modern partnership (Islamic) capital market in Russia using digital tools and made it possible to successfully test the mechanism of such transactions. During this transaction, a synergistic effect was observed when combining Islamic financial products and modern digital technologies. The head of Status JSC invited all institutional investors to participate in the activities of the Status digital platform for liquidity exchange.
The meeting continued with a broad and productive discussion among participants and experts. All invitees noted the need to adapt the existing financial infrastructure of the capital market to Islamic financial products, as well as the prospects for filling the stock market with tradable partnership finance instruments (sukuk) in order to form a basic product line to attract foreign investment. The meeting received positive feedback from both the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and representatives of businesses and infrastructure companies in the financial market.