Banks Set Sights on Islamic Bond Market

JAKARTA, Indonesia — VTB Group and Gazprombank are vying to become the first Russian borrowers to sell Islamic debt in a bid to attract Middle Eastern investment.

VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, aims this year to raise about $200 million selling sukuk, debt that complies with Islam’s ban on interest, Herbert Moos, the lender’s deputy chairman, said in an interview Wednesday. Gazprombank, the lending arm of gas export monopoly Gazprom, is in talks.

Source: Moscow Times