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Consumer credit card spending in Russia during December should grow about 12%, less than past years, according to the Russian arm of Citibank. The bank did not provide spending figures but said that credit card spending during the 2007 holiday season grew 14% from the year before, and that the two previous years have seen spending growth of between 10% and 18%. The issuer expects Russian consumers, battered by the economic crisis, to buy fewer gifts such as computers and mobile phones in favor of cheaper presents such as alcohol, cosmetics and perfumes, a bank spokesperson tells CardLine Global. Citi based its finding on analysis of transactions from 22,000 cardholders. ZAO Citibank has issued more than 400,000 MasterCard credit cards in Russia.
