KAZAN, December 26. /TASS/. The authorities are discussing the establishment of an Islamic bank in Russia, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, announced.

He was speaking at a roundtable discussion dedicated to the opening of the representative center of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in Kazan.

"We are working hard to establish an Islamic bank in Russia. We are working with business representatives, including those representing the Islamic population of our country. By the way, I am appealing to the leadership of Tatarstan. If there are those interested in being involved in creation of such a bank, we would be happy to cooperate with them. We are also in talks with Arab countries to establish such a bank," he said.

He noted that he expects this work to be completed next year.

"The Central Bank supports us in this regard following preliminary negotiations. And, accordingly, this institution will be created, which will provide additional impetus to the development of partner financing in our country," Aksakov said.

About Islamic banking

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.

The experiment to implement Islamic-compliant partner financing has been in effect since September 1, 2023, in Russian republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Dagestan, and Chechnya. In July 2025, the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, passed a law in its second and third readings extending the experiment in Russia until September 1, 2028.