Bloomberg: Three Russian banks discussed asking the Central Bank for help

Russian banks have begun discussing the possibility of recapitalization because the quality of their loan portfolios is significantly worse than official data shows, Bloomberg reports, citing Russian officials and documents the agency has seen.

At least three credit institutions that the Bank of RUSSIA has deemed systemically important have admitted that they may need capital injections over the next 12 months, according to sources. Bank representatives have discussed whether they could turn to the regulator for financial assistance if needed, the sources said.

The volume of applications from Russian banks will depend on the growth in the number of problem loans next year, Bloomberg writes. Nevertheless, the agency's interlocutors note that the discussions are becoming increasingly relevant in the banking industry.

Bloomberg also reported on fears of a banking crisis in the context of high interest rates at the end of June. The Chairman of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina then indicated that fears of a banking crisis in Russia were unfounded.

"As a body that supervises banks, I say with full responsibility that these concerns are absolutely unfounded. Yes, our banking system is well capitalized. Despite the fact that this capital is unevenly distributed across the banking system, the capital reserve is large - 8 trillion rubles," she said.

According to official reports, the Russian banking system is in relatively good shape: profits remain stable even against the backdrop of growing volumes of so-called non-performing loans with the key rate at a near-record 20%, Bloomberg points out. The financial stability review that the Bank of Russia presented in May states that the share of unsecured consumer loans, which are overdue by more than 90 days, reached 10.5% of the portfolio in April (+2.8 percentage points over the year).

RBC sent a request to the Central Bank.

As Bloomberg recalls, the Bank of Russia has already resorted to financial support programs and other mechanisms for bank recapitalization in the past. Thus, in 2017, the regulator was forced to take on three large private banking groups for financial recovery: Otkritie, Binbank, and Promsvyazbank (PSB). Through the created Banking Sector Consolidation Fund (BSCF), the regulator contributed over 2 trillion rubles to the capital of credit institutions, gaining control over them. Among the reasons for the rehabilitation of all three banks was their excessive burden of rescuing other credit institutions: Otkritie, Binbank, and Promsvyazbank became the sanators of smaller players after the 2014 crisis.

Sberbank CEO German Gref admitted that 2026 would be "not the easiest year" for Russian banks, including due to a decline in profits. However, in his opinion, banks are currently "in good shape" and there are no signs of a banking crisis . Gref noted that banks are actively increasing their capital, preparing for "not very easy times."

VTB also indicated that the situation with overdue loans in the bank's portfolio and in Russia as a whole is far from dramatic. According to VTB First Deputy Chairman Dmitry Pyanov, as the key rate decreases, the situation will gradually stabilize.

Read RBC inTELEGRAM .