俄罗斯与中国

Dracula

October 12, 2014 3:16 pm
Chinese lenders grow wary of Russia
2 o$ E  ^# u/ _) ?% M$ s8 _3 |# XBy Jack Farchy and Kathrin Hille in Moscow
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4 V& e2 O+ W; s& d. Shttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e3ec3 ... e-00144feab7de.html
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; F+ ?- ~2 G( |9 _2 I9 vWhen Chinese premier Li Keqiang and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev start talks on Monday that are expected to culminate in the signing of more than 50 deals, it will be the latest demonstration of hopes that China is riding to the rescue as US and EU sanctions block new western funding for Russian banks and corporates.

But despite a steady flow of handshakes and signatures, Chinese money has been hard to secure. According to numerous executives and bankers, Chinese banks and investors are dragging their heels in Russia, unwilling to risk antagonising the west by providing the surge of funding that Moscow desperately needs.

“If you expect us to rush in and do everything the European and American banks can’t do any more, you will be disappointed,” said an official at Bank of China in Moscow. “We want to develop our Russia business, but we have to consider the risks as well.”
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: t; X+ R1 S+ T! JA western executive in the energy industry said: “There is strong anxiety on the Russian side: the Chinese are very reluctant to give them money at the moment.”
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# d1 x1 F3 D  h) L5 E$ xThat appears to apply even to the $400bn gas supply deal struck between Gazprom and CNPC in May in what was seen as a triumph for Russian president Vladimir Putin. A $25bn prepayment that Gazprom said was part of the deal has yet to be paid and Alexander Medvedev, deputy chief executive of Gazprom, said recently the question of the payment was still “hanging in the air”.

The Bank of China official said that as China’s big banks had strategic interests elsewhere, they could not afford to be seen to help Russia circumvent US and EU sanctions.
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A Chinese lawyer working with Russian companies said he had come across two cases since July where a Chinese bank bowed out of loan talks with Russian clients citing a government policy not to upset Washington.

The caution is clearly reflected in the lending figures. As of the beginning of September, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China had a corporate loan portfolio of just Rbs3.35bn ($83m) in Russia. Bank of China’s loans to Russian corporates amounted to Rbs2.15bn, while China Construction Bank had Rbs1.3bn of loans outstanding to Russian companies.
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The numbers pale in comparison to the $134bn in external debt that Russian banks and corporates have to repay by the end of 2015, largely to US and European banks.

% L1 S+ [# ?. `3 n. RRussian companies also acknowledge the difficulties. “I believe that we will eventually see an increase in activity from Chinese banks, but this requires time for them to become more familiar with Russia,” said an executive at VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank that is subject to US and EU sanctions.

Bernard Sucher, a long-time investor in Russia and former head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Moscow, says one company he advises sent a team to China soon after the first round of sanctions were announced earlier this year to court investment.

“It was tough to get meetings,” he said. “They seem both afraid of the potential political risk and not especially impressed with the value of the new business they might earn from Russia.”
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/ i4 g/ x4 X3 \/ V  NRussian companies are also facing problems in trade financing and cash management, an area where they recently turned to Chinese banks for help.

/ j) v+ ~; G$ x$ e2 J. lThere are signs that China’s central bank is monitoring transfers to and from Russian entities to make sure the transfers do not involve sanctioned companies or oligarchs. Russian news agencies reported last month that some Chinese commercial banks were refusing to transfer the money of Russian clients through offshore accounts.
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" B0 F0 j! S1 z, q  `  O“The speed of (fund transfer) settlement to and from Russia and other sensitive countries may be influenced because these countries may be subject to sanctions from the United States and other countries,” said a representative working at Ping An Bank’s customer services centre recently.