OREANDA-NEWS. Sberbank and the Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector signed a strategic cooperation agreement at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. On behalf of Sberbank the agreement was signed by Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of the Bank, and on behalf of the Russian Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector – by Mikhail Men, Head of the Ministry.

The subject of the agreement is the realisation and financing of projects under Russia’s State Programme “Accessible and Comfortable Housing and Utilities for Russian Citizens”. Namely, this involves residential construction, public utilities and procurement for the state, projects using state guarantees and PPPs, as well as bank services for the Ministry and its subordinate organisations.

“The state of the housing and utilities sector and construction industry is a vital factor in Russia’s socio-economic development. This agreement creates a solid foundation for productive cooperation on a number of projects under the State Programme ‘Accessible and Comfortable Housing and Utilities for Russian Citizens,’ as well as under PPPs. We see it as a necessary and important step in developing the sector,” commented Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank.

“The strategic partnership agreement signed by Sberbank and the Ministry will enable us to build on our mutually beneficial relationship and complete projects in vital areas of social development. I am certain that with a strategic partner such as Sberbank, much progress will be made on providing the population with modern and accessible housing and resolving the tasks of Russia’s housing and utilities sector,” commented Mikhail Men, Minister of the Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector.

Sberbank is Russia’s largest bank and a leading global financial institution. Sberbank holds almost one third of aggregate Russian banking sector assets, it is the key lender to the national economy and the biggest deposit taker in Russia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation is the founder and principal shareholder of Sberbank owning 50% of the Bank's authorized capital plus one voting share, with the remaining 50% held by domestic and international investors. Sberbank has more than 135 million individual customers and more than 1 million corporate clients in 22 countries. Sberbank has the largest distribution network in Russia with almost 17,000 branches, and its international operations include UK, US, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey and other countries.