CEO: Russia’s Sberbank may take foreign-currency loan from cbank

MOSCOW, Sep 12 (PRIME) -- Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, earlier included in the E.U. sanction list barring it from long-term borrowing within Europe, does not rule out taking a foreign currency-denominated loan from the country’s central bank, CEO German Gref told reporters Friday.

“There are several options including taking foreign currency liquidity from the central bank, we will study options,” he said.

Chairwoman of the central bank Elvira Nabiullina said earlier on Friday that the authority does not consider granting foreign currency-denominated loans to local banks in spite of the Western sanctions.

Sberbank may also raise interest rates for deposits denominated in foreign currencies to raise liquidity, Gref said.

“We are unable to find financing for any term, foreign markets are shut for Russian banks,” the CEO said.

According to Gref, Sberbank’s affiliates in Ukraine and Hungary are experiencing troubles. “We have two problematic spots, Ukraine and Hungary. In Hungary, the economic situation is not bad but the regulative environment is complex.”

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