Mintos’ Russian lenders report “no change” in borrower payments
The seven Russia-based lenders who work with European peer-to-peer lending platform Mintos have reported that there have been “no changes in borrowers’ discipline” despite ongoing economic sanctions.
In a message to investors, Mintos said that it maintains business relations with seven lending companies who offer loans issued in the Russian Federation. They are: Kviku, Revo, LimeZaim, Dozarplati, Ecofinance, Creditter, and Mikro Kapital.
In total, these lenders represent just under 15 per cent of the total outstanding investments on the Mintos platform.
The lenders have told Mintos that they all continue to be operational and are working round the clock to ensure that there is no interruption to their services.
However, Mintos noted that with impending inflation in the country, lending companies are either significantly reducing their issuance volumes to control liquidity in case of rising inflation, or they are continuing to work as usual, but relying on cash reserves and strong equity positions.
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“The dynamics of borrowers’ behaviour remains unchanged, the issuance and repayment of loans are carried out as usual,” said Pavel Sologub, chief executive of Dozarplati.
“Transactions are made without interruption, payment system gateways and acquiring services work without changes.
“Disconnecting some banks from SWIFT will not affect rouble transactions within the country – they are still carried out without hindrance. Our policy, as always, is to fulfil our obligations to our partners and customers, ensuring the uninterrupted operation of a reliable and affordable instant online lending service.”
Nikita Lomakin, chief executive of Kviku, said that it is in direct contact with the regulator regarding the temporary restriction on currency payments under loan agreements concluded with non-residents.
“We continue to honour our liabilities with Mintos and are committed to restarting settlements as soon as the transfer of funds becomes available from Russia again,” Lomakin said.
“Operations in Russia remain business as usual, with borrowers making payments to our local bank accounts. Issuance volumes to new POS clients have been reduced and we are currently focused on the most profitable segment of issuance – repeat clients.”
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Eugene Antohov, chief executive of Creditter, said: “We believe that the investments made by investors in our company will remain unchanged.
“At the same time, we note a possible increase in the actual repayment period of the borrowers to the lending company.”
He added that the Russian government has drafted a law giving borrowers the right to a grace period for using borrowed funds.
Russia has been under increased economic pressure since the invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February.
Soon after, Mintos said that it was limiting investor loan exposure to Belarus and exploring alternatives to the SWIFT international payments system so Russian loan originators could continue making repayments.
Read more: How European P2P lenders are protecting investors from war in Ukraine