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One of Russia’s largest “systemically important” banks has disclosed severe financial strains as overdue loans mount across the corporate sector.
Credit Bank of Moscow (MKB), closely linked to state oil major Rosneft, reported an eightfold surge in overdue debt since the start of the year, the Kommersant business daily reported, citing the bank’s financial records.
Clients failed to repay 585 billion rubles ($7.66 billion) in loans on time between January and September, pushing total non-performing loans to 668 billion rubles ($8.75 billion), or about 28% of the bank’s loan book.
A source told Kommersant that the problems were uncovered during a Central Bank inspection that began in summer 2024.
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MKB was the only major bank to post a net interest loss in the third quarter, with the loss amounting to 157.6 billion rubles ($2.06 billion).
Founded by billionaire Roman Avdeev, MKB was drawn into Rosneft’s orbit in 2017 after nearly collapsing alongside other lenders in the so-called “Moscow ring” — Otkritie FC Bank, Binbank and Promsvyazbank.
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Rosneft effectively rescued MKB by injecting capital, placing long-term deposits maturing in 2066 and shifting into the bank hundreds of billions of rubles in reverse-repo deals used to finance its operations.
It remains unclear which borrowers defaulted in 2025, as the bank’s disclosures do not specify.
The Central Bank noted in November that several mining and metals companies required debt restructuring amid falling demand and prices, while the oil and gas sector has been hit by sanctions and a sharp decline in crude prices.
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