“Army” of bankrupt Russians exceeded 700 thousand people

Over the past seven years, the number of Russians declared bankrupt has grown to 753.2 thousand people. In 2022, the courts declared insolvent 278.1 thousand citizens (individuals and individual entrepreneurs) – this is 44.2% more than in the previous year. Izvestia writes about this with reference to Fedresurs data.

In the previous year, the increase in bankrupt citizens was greater – it amounted to 62%. However, in 2022, a moratorium on bankruptcies was in effect in Russia from April to October. In addition, the authorities introduced credit holidays for citizens who suffered significant financial losses. Borrowers were entitled to deferred payments for up to 6 months if their income fell by at least 30% due to the crisis.

Most of the declared bankrupts are among the residents of the Krasnodar Territory – 13,950 people. In Moscow and the Moscow Region, 13,470 and 13,430 people were insolvent in 2022, respectively.

By the beginning of the war, the Russians approached with a record level of debt load. Issuance of loans, especially consumer loans, grew rapidly throughout 2021. Last year, the issuance of such loans increased by 20.1%. Then the Central Bank warned more than once about the overheating of the market for unsecured loans.

According to the Central Bank, as of November 1, banks had 1.07 trillion rubles of problem loans from citizens on their balance sheets. In September, the indicator increased by 1.9%. In August, growth was at the level of 2.1%, the highest since the beginning of the crisis.

However, this indicator does not reflect all overdue loans of Russians. When the borrower stops paying, banks gradually get rid of the overdue loan, selling it, for example, to collectors.

In 2022, the supply of overdue bank loans increased by 60% and amounted to 219 billion rubles, follows from the data of the Debex online auction for the sale of overdue debt. For comparison, in 2021, the growth of “problem” loans offered for sale was only 9% compared to 2020.

Every fifth Russian faces the problem of debt, he said in August President of the National Association of Professional Collection Agencies (NAPCA) Elman Mehdiyev. According to him, almost 10% of Russia’s able-bodied population, whose number is estimated by the Ministry of Economic Development at 74.8 million people, is in the zone of “arrears” on debt.