Issues of financial inclusion development in rural areas were discussed with representatives of banks and agribusiness

On February 10, a scientific and methodological seminar "Development of financial inclusion in rural areas: the experience of Europe and Russia" was held as part of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Module "European practice of developing digital financial services in rural areas: knowledge and inclusion". The event was attended by representatives of the Bank of Russia, JSC Rosselkhozbank, agribusiness and rural communities who discussed the problems and prospects for the development of financial inclusion.

The seminar was held within the framework of the grant "European practice of developing digital financial services in rural areas: knowledge and inclusion" and the celebration of the Day of Russian Science in Omsk State Agrarian University.

Doctor of Economic Sciences, Head of the International Relations Department Oksana Kozlova opened the meeting. Professor Kozlova addressed the participants of the seminar with a welcome speech, she briefly spoke about the Erasmus + Jean Monnet programme and announced the agenda.

Oksana Avramenko, Head of Payment Systems and Settlement Department of Omsk Siberian Branch of Bank of Russia, continued the seminar. In her report, Ms. Avramenko focused on legislative changes in the context of ensuring financial accessibility in the Russian Federation, as well as on the activities of the Bank of Russia for the development of financial technologies. These technologies are aimed at developing remote services in financial sector and reduce market participants' expenses.

Tatyana Yurchenko, Deputy head of the Economic Department of the Omsk Siberian Branch of Bank of Russia, in her article outlined the features of the 2020 campaign for the development of financial literacy in the territory of the Omsk Region, participation of the municipal districts of the Omsk Region and their performance in the context of the development of financial literacy. It should be noted that the TOP 5 municipal districts for the participation of schools in online lessons on financial literacy included areas with different levels of Internet connection quality.

Sergey Zolotarev, Deputy Director of the Russian Branch of JSC Rosselkhozbank, presented the activities of the bank in rural areas. To ensure greater accessibility to banking services and in accordance with the Bank of Russia's policy on maintaining the presence of banks in rural areas, JSC Rosselkhozbank not only opens additional offices in remote areas, but also provides remote workplaces and has authorized representatives. In addition, JSC Rosselkhozbank is developing its ecosystem, which is largely aimed at the interests of rural residents. It includes such projects as "Svoe, rodnoe" (online app that allows purchasing farmer's products), and workplaces for students studying agriculture.

Dinar Baetova, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Accounting and Financial Control, briefly presented the results of the development of financial inclusion in Europe, that are reflected in the World Bank and the EU analytical companies reports.

In the following discussion, the participants of the seminar Nicholai Kucherenko (Head of the Department for the Development of the Corporate Sales Channel of JSC Rosselkhozbank), Vladimir Zazdravnykh - (Deputy General Director of "RUSKOM-Agro" Kormilovsky district, Omsk region), Anton Grachev (Deputy General Director of "RUSKOM-Agro" of Kormilovsky district of the Omsk Region, Deputy of Yurievo village in Kormilovskiy district of the Omsk Region), and Maria Nedbayeva (Head of the Department for the Development of Certain Sectors of the Real Economy of the Investment Department of the Ministry of Economy of the Omsk Region) discussed the prospects for the development of financial inclusion. Having agreed upon the complexity of the issue under consideration, the participants of the seminar stated that this work should be systematic, and it should be done with close cooperation of regional and municipal authorities, business and educational institutions.

At the end of the seminar, Oleg Blinov, Head of the Department of Economics, Accounting and Financial Control, thanked all the guests, noting their active participation in the seminar.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Commission as part of the Jean Monnet Module 620032-EPP-1-2020-1-RU-EPPJMO-MODULE "European practice of developing digital financial services is rural areas: knowledge and inclusion". The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.