Sberbank announced a drop in the mortgage and car credit interest rate to spur demand.

      Starting from March 1, 2013, Russians can benefit from improved lending terms – a 12 percent mortgage rate and a first installment worth 12 percent.

      According to the latest survey by Sberbank-CIB, only 1 percent of Russians can afford to buy an apartment. 25 percent can do it through mortgage, but believe the current rates are too high, reads the study of Sberbank’s investment arm.

      Earlier, the CEO of the state-run bank, German Gref, admitted that Russia’s biggest lending institution was facing a tough choice between higher profits and responsibility for maintaining overall demand on the market, where it controlled as much as 46 percent.