KAZAN, May 15. /TASS/. The first draft standards for partnership financing, or so-called Islamic banking, may appear by the end of 2025, Anatoly Kozlachkov, head of the Association of Russian Banks (ARB), said in an interview with TASS as part of the Russia-Islamic World forum.
"I think that the first draft standards may appear this year, given untested mechanisms and the absence of some institutions. For example, we do not yet have a Sharia Council that could consecrate these standards with its authority. I think that by the end of the year we may already have two or three draft standards," Kozlachkov said.
According to him, the bill on partnership financing, already submitted to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, assumes that it is the ADB that will be engaged in standardization.
"The mechanism will be as follows: the association will develop standards based on international standards. This is a mandatory condition for us to establish a bridge with international Islamic financing," he said.
These standards will be submitted to the Central Bank for approval and after that the religious component of the transactions will somehow be approved, he added.
"Eventually, we expect that religious sanction within the country will be defined by Islamic law authorities - the Sharia - so that Russian Muslims understand that these standards have been endorsed by Islam," the expert noted.
Russia is testing out a pilot program for partnership financing from September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2025 in the national republics of Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Chechnya and Dagestan. A bill has also been submitted to the State Duma to extend the partnership financing program until September 1, 2028.
Islamic banking means conducting banking activities in accordance with Islamic norms. Payment of interest and derivative interest transactions, transactions with conditions of uncertainty, as well as financing of certain sectors of the economy such as gambling, pork production, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, weapons, ammunition are banned. You cannot finance trade in all abovementioned areas. Common Islamic banking operations are installments, leasing, and equity financing.
About the forum
The 16th International Economic Forum "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum" is underway from May 13 to 18 in Kazan. The main theme of the Forum in 2025 is ‘Digitalization: New Reality and Additional Opportunities for Expanding Cooperation’.
Representatives of more than 100 countries have confirmed their participation in the forum.
TASS is the general information partner of the event.