Fostering Regional Economic Development by Promoting Cooperative Banking Structures in Rual Areas – Lessons Learned in the Russian Federation after 1990

Cooperative banks have to consider their institutional and commercial development in order to be a full-fledged and relevant part of the banking system. This implies to offer carefully-designed financial products according to the level of development of their members/customers, of the regions and of the financial system in which they are embedded. The paper analyses the emergence of rural cooperative banking structures in Russia that developed after 1990 by referring to Chick/Dow`s »stages-of-banking-model« and issues of corporate governance. The analysis suggests that the institutions need to achieve further elements of modern banking for becoming significant market players in the country. In addition, the regulation and supervision by the Russian government has to be balanced vis-à-vis the size and importance of single rural credit cooperatives in comparison to other – by far larger – elements of the financial system.