OREANDA-NEWS. July 18, 2013. The lender has been made a member of the Council, which has been set up under the auspices of the CBR Regional Bank for the Tula Region.

The decision to establish the Tula Banking Council was adopted on July 4 2013 at a local bankers’ meeting specially convened to discuss ways of boosting borrowing among the region’s real sector companies.

The priority tasks of the newly-founded banking association will be to ensure that Tula region’s banking community collaborates closely with the CBR Regional Bank, the local administration, the Department of the Federal Tax Service and other government agencies, to coordinate the community’s activities and to represent its interests at national government level, as well as with the Bank of Russia.

Uniastrum is one of the most active players operating on the Tula region’s banking market. Next year its Tula branch will be marking its 10th anniversary. Its current client count numbers over 9,000 retail and business customers. In the course of a year (June 1 2012 – June 1 2013), its credit portfolio expanded 29%, while consumer credit and credit card portfolios grew 200% and 45%, respectively.

The Tula office’s core areas of operation are geared toward enhancing retail sales and building relationships with small and medium businesses. In the first five months of 2013 it issued three times more personal loans than in the year-earlier period, also disbursing twice the amount of card credit year-on-year.

“In 2012 the Tula branch emerged as one of Uniastrum’s best regional performers in terms of incremental growth. We remain committed to building strong relationships with the local community, offering it a wide range of consumer credit, card and deposit options,” says Alexander Shalamov, head of the Bank’s Tula office. “As well as developing our retail activities, we believe that supporting the region’s real sector must be a key priority. Our membership of the Tula Banking Council will help to ensure that we are able to work in partnership with other banks and government agencies and, together, devise and activate new ways of assisting local enterprise.”