The factoring turnover in Russia rose in the first half of the year by 77.4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, up to 617 billion roubles, according to the Association of Factoring Companies (AFC). The number of clients of factoring companies increased by one third, from four thousand to 5.5 thousand.According to the AFC, the market leader is VTB Factoring, part of VTB. In the first half of 2012, its market share by turnover (138.6 billion roubles) was 23 percent, an increase of more than 100 percent compared to the same period of the previous year (12 percent). The previous year’s leader PSB moved into second place, with its turnover at 105.7 billion and its market share at 18 percent, down from 20 percent in the previous year. Alfa-Bank took the third place, with a share of 12 percent and a turnover of 69.3 billion roubles.