14.10.2024 — From the author Press service in News
On 11 October 2024, Russia began forming an interbank capital market as part of an experiment in partnership (Islamic) financing.
On the STATUS-INVEST investment platform (Moscow) the Sheikh Zayed Fund for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Support (Grozny) provided financing in the amount of 40 million rubles for the “Amal” software product ‘digital mudarabah’ (Kazan). The deal was initiated and organised by AS SALYAM (Kazan). This deal was the first and fundamental for the formation of a modern partnership (Islamic) capital market in Russia using digital tools. At the same time, the transaction was interregional in nature – companies from two constituent entities of the Russian Federation, where an experiment in partnership financing is being conducted (the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Tatarstan), participated in it as investors and recipients of investments.
As noted by the General Director of STATUS JSC (included by the Bank of Russia in the register of investment platform operators) Lyudmila Mironova: «Thanks to the capabilities and mechanisms of the STATUS-INVEST investment platform, the participants and organiser of the transaction plan to intensify the liquidity of the partnership (Islamic) financing market in our country.
The products sold on the STATUS-INVEST platform as part of partnership financing are aimed at institutional investors – funds, banks, and investment companies that operate within the Russian legal system and are located in the experimental territory.»
The Islamic financial product ‘mudarabah’ is a financing agreement under which the investor provides the borrower with a loan and receives as income a share of the profit generated by the project, which the borrower realises through the funds raised.
The platform’s client-investors can be individuals, sole traders and companies of any organisational and legal form – anyone who is interested, both those who share the principles of partnership financing and those who are just getting acquainted with this product, which is new to the Russian market.
The recipients of financing for projects requiring investment can be Russian companies operating in the Russian Federation whose activities comply with Sharia law.
Bulat Mulyukov, Head of the Sharia Council of AS SALYAM: «We have carried out a great deal of meticulous work to prepare and bring the set of documents forming the basis of this transaction into line with all the requirements of Sharia law. Overall, the structure, which is unique in its essence and involves a number of agreements and several participants (the organiser, investment platform, investors, recipients of financing), has been formalised in a form that is as convenient and understandable as possible for the parties, allowing all interested parties to use it comfortably.» The recipients of financing for projects requiring investment can be Russian companies operating in the Russian Federation whose activities comply with Sharia law.
Ruslan Khalyullin, member of the Sharia Council: «We would like to thank all our partners for their coordinated and active work, carried out in a short time frame and at a high professional level. It is gratifying to note that the creation of the “interbank” platform is the result of teamwork by all stakeholders, which is a manifestation of the essence of the principles of partnership finance.»
Renat Edikhanov, Chairman of the Board of AS SALYAM: «We are proud to announce that the foundation of the interbank lending market for participants in partnership financing has been laid. Participants in the experiment will be able to both place their excess liquidity and attract funds to cover cash gaps. The beginning of the formation of a partnership capital market in the Russian Federation has been laid!»
It is important to emphasise that the transaction lays the foundation and creates the conditions for expanding opportunities to attract investment to Russia.
Welcome to the world of innovative Russian Islamic investment banking products.
- AS SALYAM Group (Nos. 19, 20 in the Central Bank of Russia register in accordance with No. 417-FZ) https://ас-салям.рф/
- STATUS-INVEST investment platform (STATUS JSC) (in the Central Bank of Russia’s register of investment platform operators since 22 January 2021) https://platform.rostatus.ru/
- Sheikh Zayed Fund for Entrepreneurship and Innovation LLC (established in 2017 as a result of an agreement between the Head of the Chechen Republic, R.A. Kadyrov, and the President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan) https://zayedfund.com/
- FD Amal (Nos. 5, 7 in the register of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in accordance with No. 417-FZ) https://amal.ru/