RUSSIA - EVENTS - Islamic Financing: Prospects for Development in Russia (Dec 8, 2011)

The Moscow Times newspaper and Economic Department of Russia Muftis Council invite you to participate at the Third annual Conference "Islamic Financing: Prospects for Development in Russia", which will be held on December 8, 2011.

The Conference will help the participants to find answers regarding the state of Islamic finance market and new trends of development, realization of Shariah-compliant transactions in Russia and abroad, get firsthand advice from the experts, to discuss further ways of collaboration with the international consulting and law firms. (website - more info hereunder - register here)

RUSSIA - Indonesia shares experience in Islamic banking

The training of economists and bankers from Russia on various aspects of Islamic banking began on June 13, 2011, in Jakarta, in the Islamic bank Bank Muamalat Indonesia (BMI).

On the first day of the training, BMI Head of International Relations department, Mr. Farouk Alvini, welcomed the Russian delegation and informed them of the recent performance of the bank. Particularly, he noted that BMI is the second largest Islamic bank in Indonesia with the asset growth of 30% per year. (source)

RUSSIA - Russia enters world of Islamic finance

The bonds are to be issued by the majority Muslim Russian republic of Tatarstan in the Volga region, which has embarked on an ambitious drive to attract foreign investment.

"Russia will show that it can be interesting for Muslim countries," one of the project's backers, Linar Yakupov told AFP. (source - msn news)

RUSSIA - Barwa Real Estate, Gazprombank announce closing of Russia fund

Doha/ Moscow: Barwa Real Estate Company QSC and Gazprombank OJSC (an affiliate of the world’s largest gas producer and exporter Gazprom) jointly announced yesterday the first closing of the Shariah compliant, Barwa Gazprombank Russia Real Estate Fund. The Fund represents the first collaboration between Barwa and Gazprombank and the two companies will seed the Fund with $75m capital each. The First Investor QSCC (TFI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barwa Bank, will contribute $2m into the Fund.

RUSSIA - TURKEY - BANKING - Turkish bankers find Russian financial market reliable (Bank Asya)

Turkish bankers consider the Russian financial market to be stable and reliable, Cenk Karacaoglu, the Vice President of the leading Turkish financial institution Bank Asya said in Moscow. He added financial services as specific as Islamic financing is quite promising in Russia.

Mr. Karacaoglu announced this in Moscow where he took part in an international conference called "Islamic Finance. Prospects of Development in Russia".

At present, there is no intensive cooperation between Russian and Turkish banks, but this is beginning to change. Turkish banks are establishing their representative offices in Russia and entering the European market. All this shows that cooperation in a wide range of banking services has good prospects: insurance, renting etc. We want Turkish and Russian banks to intensify cooperation and jointly enter partner markets, including the Middle East region.

RUSSIA - Islamic Finance in Russia – Developments in 2010

 
Rustam Vakhitov
Head of International Tax Service Group
Pepeliaev Group

It has been a year since the first conference on Islamic finance in December 2009. Over the year there have been quite a number of significant events taking place, all of which will influence the development of Islamic finance in Russia. Among these, the major milestones are the establishment of the Russian Association of Experts in Islamic Finance; the first Halal Expo Exhibition; publication of an authorized translation of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions’ Standards of Islamic Finance Transactions; and the first Islamic finance deals on the Russian market.

RUSSIA - Arab Banking Corp to launch Moscow operations

ABC will seek to increase trade between firms in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus with those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (Getty Images)