Russia rocked by wave of bank defaults
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BANKING

Russia rocked by wave of bank defaults

Related-party lending is at the heart of the problems in Russia’s banking system. But many doubt the central bank will take the strong action needed.

In a dramatic sign that the Russian government intended to hold senior officials accountable for the failure of Bank of Moscow, Gennady Melikyan, head of the oversight committee at Russia’s central bank, resigned early last month.

In all likelihood, Melikyan’s head rolled because of the $14 billion bailout, which included a R295 billion ($10.5 billion) central bank loan, as the government had to rush in to plug a gaping hole in the bank’s balance sheet that was discovered when state-run VTB Bank attempted a hostile takeover and found it had bitten off more than it could chew.

The bailout was equal to about 1% of Russia’s GDP, breaking all records for a bank bailout in Russia and highlighting the seriousness of the problem of related-party lending: cosy loans that banks make to their owners and shareholders on favourable terms.

In Russia, loans to management and shareholders average half of the capital invested by Russian banks, according to Eugene Tarzimanov, Moscow-based analyst at Moody’s. That is five times higher than in Central and Eastern Europe and twice as high as the Middle East. "The numbers we see for Russia are very high," said Tarzimanov.

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