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The ceremonial handover of the feasibility study on opening an Islamic bank or Islamic banking window in the region took place in the Government House of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The document, which is considered as a basis for a pilot project on Islamic banking in the Russian Federation, was handed over to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov.

The ceremony brought together the President of Unirazak University (Malaysia), the professor Datuk Seri Dr. Mohammed Zabid Haji Abdul Rashid, the president of IBFD Fund Linar Yakupov, the assistant to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Albert Nafigin, the Chief of the Department for Economy and State Property Renat Gaynutdinov, the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan Artem Zdunov, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Tatarstan and the First Deputy Minister of Finance Marat Faizrakhmanov.

The Deputy Director of the National Bank of the Republic of Tatarstan Sariya Sirazieva, the Chairman of «Spurt Bank» Evgeniya Dautova, the Deputy Director of «Bank Tatarstan» Dmitry Volostnov and the first Deputy Chairman of «Ak Bars» bank Radik Salyahutdinov presented the banking community of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The feasibility study included the key principles of Islamic economy, the Islamic banking and insurance implementation models in various countries, the research on community’s interest in Islamic banking products, as well as application of Islamic finance within the existing legal framework. The project on the feasibility study was completed in 9 months and was financed by the Government of Malaysia.

While welcoming the participants, Ildar Khalikov reminded that the Republic of Tatarstan had been chosen as a pilot region for launching an Islamic bank and for implementing Islamic financial instruments. According to the Prime Minister, Islamic finance is considered as a fundamentally new approach to attract investments into the region.

«We are very delighted to accept this huge gift, this support that you are providing», told the Prime Minister to the consortium. «Tatarstan is considered to be a pilot platform for launching an Islamic financial industry in the Russian Federation. The feasibility study will be the basis of Islamic banking development in the region», added Ildar Khalikov.

According to Professor Datuk Seri Dr. Mohammed Zabid Haji Abdul Rashid, the feasibility study handover must be followed by implementation of Islamiс Finance in Tatarstan and then in other Russian regions.

«Kazan should become a very important European hub for Islamic banking and finance. Tatarstan is an ideal starting point for launching Islamic financial services in Russia. And the market’s expectations only prove that!» - told the president of Unirazak.

The first Deputy Chairman of «AK Bars Bank” Radik Salyahutdinov confirmed his words, saying that the bank is very excited about the presented feasibility study and intending to use the reports of this study as inputs to its work.

In his turn, Dmitry Volostnov from Tatarstan branch of «Sberbank» shared that the working group on Islamic banking was set up and that it is already functioning.

«I am confident, that feasibility study, that was handed over to us, will facilitate the development, and more importantly, the launching of an Islamic banking window in the Republic of Tatarstan», - added Volostnov.

The president of IBFD Fund Linar Yakupov concluded that the tremendous amount of work was conducted in the last 9 months, and that the wishes of the market and participants were also taken into consideration.

«The feasibility study, presented to the Government of Tatarstan, is a tool for developing the mechanisms of the Islamic financial industry in the Russian Federation. We hope that the great deal of work conducted by us will be appreciated and that the practical actions will be taken to implement it», told Yakupov on the ceremony.

The final version of the feasibility study will be also presented in Moscow on the next day. The presentation will take place in one of the Sberbank’s branches within the scope of the round table with the participation of partnership banking working group, set up by the State Duma and the Council of Federation, as well as the Association of Russian banks, the Association of regional Banks of Russia and Russian financial market’s key participants.

For reference
On February 2015, the president of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with the Malaysian-Russian consortium, composed of the leading Malaysian university Unirazak, the Malaysian institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IBFIM) and the Russian Islamic Business and Finance development Fund. As a result of the meeting it was agreed to prepare a feasibility study for opening an Islamic bank or Islamic banking window in the Republic of Tatarstan, as a pilot region for launching of Islamic financing in the Russian Federation.

On April 2015, during the Kazan Sukuk Conference 2015, the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Malaysian-Russian consortium signed an agreement to prepare a feasibility study on opening an Islamic bank or Islamic banking window in the Republic. The special working group, consisting of government, consortium and banking community representatives, was set up within the framework of this agreement for the development of the feasibility study. In accordance with the agreement, the Republic of Tatarstan is considered as a pilot platform for launching Islamic banking in the Russian Federation.

The agreement was signed by the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexei Pesoshin, the president of IBFD Fund Linar Yakupov and the president of Unirazak Dr. Mohammed Zabid Bin Haji Abdul Rashid.

On October 2015, preliminary results of the feasibility study were presented during expert hearings in Moscow and Kazan, which where oriented for three key groups: banks, academic community and the government. In Kazan, the hearings took place from 2nd to 5th of October in the regional office of Sberbank, the Russian Islamic institute and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan, where the working group session was held.

The hearings in the Central Bank were the last ones, and the representatives of working groups established by the State Duma and the Council of Federation, examining partnership banking have shared their suggestions, comments, opinions and corrections. The Association of Russian Banks, the Association of regional banks and the key market participants had also attended the hearings.