Rustam Minnikhanov: Ak Bars Bank is the main authorized bank of the Republic of Tatarstan

On May 22, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in the annual general meeting of Ak Bars Bank shareholders.

The shareholders approved the annual report, the annual accounting statements for 2016 and the distribution of the bank's profit recommended by the Board of Directors based on the results of the reporting year, elected the Board of Directors and the Audit Commission, approved auditors to audit the financial reporting in accordance with Russian and international financial reporting standards.

Board Chairman of Ak Bars Bank Zufar Garayev reported on the results of the bank's activities in 2016. In paticular, he said that the financial organization received a net profit in the amount of 651 million roubles in 2016. The growth of profitability was achieved due to the growth of interest margins, cost reduction and improvement of business processes. During the year, the bank's own capital increased by 19 per cent and amounted to 70 billion roubles. Net interest margin increased from 0.3 to 2.0 per cent in 2016. By the end of 2016, customers' deposit accounts increased by 0.7 per cent over the year and amounted to 321 billion roubles.

Minnikhanov stressed that Ak Bars Bank is the main authorized bank of the Republic of Tatarstan: "It is important that it continues to be reliable and effective".

Minnikhanov also noted that the strict policy pursued by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the banking sector has rational reasons and the regional banks must correspond to a high level of efficiency.

"The main task is to ensure the stability and reliability of the banking system. The Central Bank is pursuing a strict policy. I can not comment it, it is correct anyway. The most effective and reliable companies should remain in the market. And the regional banks should also fully meet these criteria,” Tatarstan President said.