Russia’s Central Bank is bailing out a midsized Russian retail bank to save it from insolvency.
Moscow's Trust Bank has become the first financial casualty of Russia’s currency crisis and the latest sign that the depreciating value of the ruble is straining the country’s banking system.
The Central Bank said on December 22 that it issued a loan to Trust Bank for 30 billion rubles, or about $500 million at the current exchange rate, to help the bank continue normal operations.
It also will place Trust Bank under its own supervision until an investor is found.
Major Russian banks said they had no interest in acquiring Trust Bank.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 22 acknowledged that the Russian economy is facing “uneasy times.”
But Putin vowed that Russia has enough resources to overcome the problems in the wake of fallen global oil prices and international sanctions over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian crisis.