Gref: Pension Funds' Venture Investment Could Boost Market
Sberbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gennady Gudkov, believes that attracting funds from non-state pension funds (NPFs) to venture projects would boost the development of this market.
Consensus
- Gref stated that the main problem on the venture market is lack of capital.
- Gref suggested that allowing non-state pension funds (NPFs) to invest in venture projects would provide a significant boost to startup development.
- Gref mentioned that a presidential directive on this issue already exists.
- Gref referenced the U.S. example from the late 1970s, where similar policy led to over 15-fold growth in the venture market within three years.
- The Russian venture market's volume in the first half of 2026 was $29.3 million, down 62% from the same period in 2025.
- The number of venture deals in the first half of 2026 dropped by 35% to 35, and the median investment size fell nearly threefold to $210,000.
- In Q1 2026, NPFs' actual investment in equities was 8.4%, despite a 40% cap.
- Private funds surpassed business angels in venture investments through the Moscow Venture Fund in 2025, with investments growing 1.8 times to 8.7 billion rubles.
Points of divergence
- NAUFOR proposed easing investment strategy requirements for NPFs on June 4. — vedomosti
- President Putin recommended in spring 2020 that the Central Bank and the government work on allowing NPFs to invest in direct and venture funds. — interfax
Coverage (2 sources)
- Greif: attracting funds from NPFs would help solve the problem of the venture market — Ведомости
- Greff stated that attracting funds from non-state pension funds would give a boost to the development of the venture investment market — Интерфакс