Islamic banks looking for Russian partners to introduce Shariah compliant services

Islamic banks looking for Russian partners: Two major Islamic banking institutions, the Al Baraka Banking Group and  the Al Shamal Islamic Bank, are actively  looking for partners to  help them operate in Russia within the parameters of Sharia law. Their interest was made public at this month’s Islamic Investment Summit in Bahrain by Abdul Rahman Al Baker, Executive Director of Financial Institutions Supervision at the Central Bank of Bahrain.
According to Al Baker, these banks have been interested in the Russian market for a long time, but opening branches independently was problematic because Russian law did not allow Islamic banks to operate in compliance with Sharia rules. “Under such circumstances, these banks are now negotiating with the Russian credit institutions to enter their capital and access the Russian market,” Al Baker told Kommersant.  “Their main area of interest is corporate financing, which may be conducted under the Russian rules, but only in certain areas of business (excluding financing gambling, alcohol, pork production companies, and so on).”  Al Baraka Bank’s First Vice President Khalid Al Qattan , confirmed that negotiations were taking place with several interested parties.