This is due to high buyer activity and the sale of «young debts,» where the likelihood of recovery is higher.
In the first nine months of 2025, debt collectors purchased a record volume of overdue debt from microfinance organizations (MFOs)—82.7 billion rubles—which is 26.45% higher than the same period in 2024 and 74.47% higher than the same period in 2023. These data are presented in a joint study by ID Collect, a debt collection service, and PKB (available to Vedomosti). The statistics are based on data from all electronic trading platforms and direct transactions.
Purchases of overdue microfinance institution debt in the third quarter also broke a three-year record – 33.3 billion rubles, 42% higher than the same figure for the third quarter of 2024 and more than double the figure for the third quarter of 2023.
The segment’s record-breaking performance is primarily due to high purchasing activity, says Tatyana Volegova, Commercial Director of ID Collect. In 2025, new and «well-forgotten old» buyers of overdue microfinance institution debt entered the market, she explains, meaning agencies that had not purchased in this segment for a long time.
Furthermore, interest in the microfinance institution assignment market (the transfer of claims to a third party) began to grow last year, when demand for litigation bank portfolios declined due to increased state fees, Volegova continues. MFI debt offered for sale is largely unsettled, which increases its appeal to buyers compared to bank-issued overdue debt, confirms Artem Bykov, CEO of Moneyman. As a result, some buyers have shifted toward purchasing MFI cessionary portfolios, which has also led to increased demand, he notes.
The overall increase in demand for MFI debt among buyers is also fueled by the fact that microfinance institutions have begun to offer «young debt» for sale more frequently, says Bykov. Volegova confirms that the quality of portfolios offered has been steadily improving throughout the year. For example, in the first nine months of 2025, the average DPD (Days Past Due) of portfolios in closed transactions was 231 days, which is 25% lower than the same figure for the first three quarters of last year, she notes. DPD is one of the key metrics in valuation, because the younger the overdue debt, the higher the likelihood of its recovery out of court, explains Volegova.
Creditors, interested in maximizing profits from sales amid steadily rising operating expenses, are increasing the volume of portfolios put up for auction, says Roman Makarov, CEO of Zaimer. For many of them, it’s now becoming more profitable to sell rather than collect the accumulated debt themselves, he explains. October and November are also traditionally months of large assignments, when creditors clear out their portfolios and collectors seek to secure the most promising volumes, Makarov notes. Therefore, current demand, and therefore prices, will remain at roughly the same level until the end of this year, he believes.
Competition in the microfinance loan assignment market is quite intense, but the percentage of closed deals over the first three quarters was only 87%, indicating little potential for price reduction, notes Pavel Mikhmel, Managing Director of PKB. However, the price is unlikely to decrease significantly in the near future, as demand for overdue microfinance loans is very strong overall, he adds. The average weighted purchase price over nine months was 17.5% (of the principal amount), according to ID Collect data.
The cession market is currently developing quite dynamically and attracting strong interest from investors, says a representative of the National Association of Professional Collection Agencies (NAPCA). This is due to their financial capabilities, including borrowed funds, Bykov notes. And since the Bank of Russia is signaling monetary easing by the end of the year, the reduction in funding costs for buyers will lead to them having even more available liquidity to purchase cession portfolios, he reasons. Therefore, record levels of closed transactions will be maintained until the end of the year, Bykov concludes. The volume of closed transactions for the past nine months has already reached record levels, and there are no signs of a decline in sales by the end of the year, agrees Makarov.
MFI delinquency continues to rise: in the latest Central Bank review for the second quarter of this year, the level of overdue debt in the microfinance market increased after a decline of eighteen months. This gives reason to predict growth in the cession market next year by at least 7-10%, estimates Mikhmel.
In 2026, the market will continue to develop and show growth in both the volume of offers and closed transactions, according to a NAPCA representative. This will be influenced by a number of legislative challenges in the microfinance market, which will impact the financial burden on businesses and, as a result, encourage creditors to more actively and quickly address problematic assets, rather than keeping them on their balance sheets for long periods, he explains.
For many creditors, it is now becoming more profitable to sell rather than collect the accumulated debt themselves.
Source: www.vedomosti.ru