OREANDA-NEWS. As of December 1, 2015, Sberbank had provided RUB 195.3 bln to small businesses. This was announced by Andrey Sharov, Vice-President and Head of Sberbank's Small Business Development Department, at a recent press conference.

Sberbank provided around 2,300 loans worth more than RUB 15.5 bln, which were guaranteed by the Corporation for Development of Small and Medium-Sized Business. Interest rates for investment loans that are guaranteed by the Corporation are 0.5 to 1.5% lower than usual, and up to 4% lower for unsecured loans.

Andrey Sharov also talked about Sberbank's key areas of work with small business in 2016: "We will focus on growing the small business loan portfolio, developing non-banking services, in particular, opening accounts and providing loans online without the client having to present documents, the mobile cash desk on the business tablet, online accounting, a new model for servicing clients via the contact centre, a new format for interacting with clients at branches, a navigator for small business, and other areas."