Study of competition in the regional banking sector of Russia

The competitive environment in the banking sector encourages the production of new banking products, which brings additional benefits to consumers of banking services, but in Russia, in the regional aspect, there is a significant problem that requires detailed consideration, consisting in the concentration of the bulk of bank assets in the hands of a narrow circle of credit organizations. In this regard, we believe that the chosen topic of the study is relevant and timely. The purpose of the study is to quantify and qualitatively interpret the level of competition of credit institutions in the regions of Russia. To achieve the goal, the following were used: a method of comparison, analysis and synthesis, mathematical and statistical methods. The main results include the following: a trend towards a decrease in the number of credit institutions has been identified since 1996, which is caused by the policy of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to improve the banking sector, as well as high competition; analysis of the dynamics of key indicators of the banking system showed that despite economic sanctions from Western countries, stagnation of the domestic economy after the crisis of 2014, changes in business processes and the way of life of people in connection with the pandemic of the Covid-19 virus, credit organizations in Russia make a profit from year to year. This pattern indicates their high adaptability to changes in the external environment; spatial analysis of indicators characterizing the activities of credit institutions revealed a significant concentration of capital in two entities, this is Moscow and St. Petersburg, thus it is possible to confidently assert the monopolization of the capital market in Russia. The results will be useful to researchers in the field of competition, the capital market and the banking sector, as well as employees of credit organizations in the formation of a strategy for the development of banks.