Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, Chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation and the Council of Muftis of Russia, met with Herman Oskarovich Gref, Chairman of the Management Board and President of Sberbank.

At the beginning of the meeting Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin on behalf of the Muslim community of the Russian Federation addressed words of gratitude to the management of Sberbank for consistent work in the development of partnership financing.

"Sberbank's interest in Islamic financial products, active participation in the experiment to introduce partnership finance in a number of regions of the Russian Federation allowed the industry to reach a qualitatively new level. It is important to note that this experiment was preceded by many years of work of the RBM of the Russian Federation and the expert community to popularize the sphere of economic activity based on trust, partnership relations and in accordance with the norms of Islamic law" - noted Mufti Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties noted the importance of continuing the experiment and extending it to new regions. The agenda also included the importance of consolidating efforts in the sphere of greater competitiveness and accessibility of Islamic finance products for the population, the importance of ensuring Shariah audit, transparency and compliance of financial products.

Also, specialists from Sberbank's Center for Partnership Finance and Special Projects presented to the meeting participants the achievements in the partnership finance industry and announced further plans and initiatives for the development of Islamic finance in Russia.

According to specialists, Sberbank has currently developed a line of 14 products structured according to Sharia law in accordance with AAOIFI standards, opened Russia's first Islamic finance offices in Kazan and Ufa, and plans to open offices in Grozny, Makhachkala and Moscow by the end of the year. As it was noted by the specialists, Sberbank has implemented in its system separate product accounting and accounting for sales channels in the direction of Islamic finance, which fully meets the AAOIFI standards on the need for separate accounting of assets and liabilities of halal activities.

At the end of the meeting, the parties once again emphasized the importance of developing cooperation in the field of improving financial literacy of the population in new for the Russian market products of partner financing, holding relevant events and joint work.

Recall that in September 2023, Sber and the RBM of the Russian Federation signed an agreement on strategic cooperation to popularize and legitimize Islamic finance in the Russian Federation within the framework of the federal law "On conducting an experiment to establish special regulation to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of partnership finance activities in certain subjects of the Russian Federation", which served as an additional impetus in the development of Islamic finance in Russia.