Russian banks lost $25 billion in first half, central bank tells RBC

The national flag flies over the headquarters of the Russian Central Bank in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Sep 2 (Reuters) – Russian banks lost a total of 1.5 trillion rubles ($24.95 billion) in the first six months of 2022, a senior Russian central bank official said in an interview with The State on Friday. RBC business daily.

It is the first time the regulator has disclosed banking sector revenues since Russia sent troops to Ukraine in February.

About two-thirds of bank losses are related to foreign exchange transactions, said Dmitry Tulin, first vice president of Russia’s central bank.

Tulin said there was a “more than 50% chance” that losses for the full year would not exceed the first-half figure of 1.5 trillion rubles.

Losses were concentrated among the largest banks, Tulin said. Loss-making institutions recorded a combined loss of 1.9 trillion rubles ($31.60 billion), compared to profitable lenders which earned 400 billion rubles ($6.65 billion).

The central bank does not expect a repeat of the 2014-17 banking crisis, when the regulator had to bail out several lenders and strip banking licenses from hundreds of poorly capitalized banks, Tulin said.

($1 = 60.1200 rubles)

Reuters reporting

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