The president of Russia's second biggest bank says the country's mortgage industry is booming. At a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Andrei Kostin of VTB said the recent credit crisis that rocked American and other Western economies had “no relation to
Kostin said 2007 had been a mixed year for VTB. In May it listed in Moscow and London, but then saw its share price slide as the global credit crunch affected banking stocks worldwide. Kostin said VTB's assets had grown by 60 per cent in twelve months while its credit porfolio expanded by 80 per cent in the same period. This week, he said, the bank was celebrating lending its “third billion US dollars under our whole mortgage programme.” “We are continuing to lend to individuals as well as to Russian corporations,” Kostin said.