Russia moves to help companies refinance foreign loans

Moscow

RUSSIA'S central bank said on Wednesday it would help major Russian companies refinance foreign loans by lending money in hard currencies to those who are willing to put their foreign loans as collateral with the regulator.

While Russia has minimal sovereign foreign debts, Russian state and private companies and banks have accumulated a total of US$600 billion in foreign debts of which around US$100 billion are due next year.