The Moscow Exchange index collapsed amid the presentation of Sber's new strategy

On Wednesday, the Moscow Exchange index dropped to its lowest level since the end of September, falling below 3080 points.

Sber shares experienced a 3.7% loss, the greatest in 2.5 months, while the decrease was 1.6%.

On Wednesday, a new strategy was unveiled by the nation's biggest bank.

The priority of development will be focused on artificial intelligence.

By doing this, the bank will be able to shift the majority of its decisions to an online platform.

German Gref, the head of Sberbank, announced the group's new strategy at a presentation on Wednesday. This strategy includes transitioning to a human-centric business model and developing a "new generation" of artificial intelligence (AI) between 2024 and 2026.

RBC reports that the bank will continue to expand the ecosystem, while the strategy for 2021–2023 will remain focused on its development.

In the next three years, Sberbank plans to invest 450 billion rubles in the development of artificial intelligence. This is an increase of one and a half times compared to the current investments. With the help of AI, the bank intends to move "most decisions online", create a smart AI assistant for customers, and make technology more accessible.

Gref stated that 2023 will be the most prosperous year for the credit institution in terms of financial outcomes, including profit. Sberbank plans to distribute 50% of its profits as dividends, with its capital adequacy being higher than 13.3%.

Since the start of the year, Sberbank's net profit according to Russian accounting standards has been 1.26 trillion rubles. The Ministry of Finance has already included in the draft budget a dividend of 50% of profits for Sberbank, amounting to RUB 750 billion for 2023.

Sberbank has predicted that the Russian GDP will increase by 1.2% annually from 2024 to 2026, with inflation decreasing to 4% by 2025 and the key rate set at 8% in 2025.

BCS has noted that Sberbank's shift in focus from the ecosystem to artificial intelligence does not mean that they are abandoning ecosystemism. Arikapital Management Company believes that the development of the AI direction will have a positive effect on Sberbank's capitalization, which is good news for investors in the long run.