Russia expects to recover far less from 'bad bank' assets

Moscow

RUSSIA will dramatically cut its estimate of the sum it expects to recover from a "bad bank" set up after the collapse of three major lenders, according to three sources familiar with new calculations being prepared for the central bank.

The central bank has spent over US$40 billion bailing out Otkritie, B&N and Promsvyazbank since 2017. It had hoped to recover between 40 and 60 per cent of the value of their 2 trillion roubles (S$41.35 billion) assets that were transferred to Trust Bank, the bad bank, in the rescue deal.

But the central bank now expects to receive only 20 per cent of the value, according to the calculations being put together by the managers of Trust Bank, the sources said. The estimate is being downgraded because the assets were overpriced in the initial calculations, they said.

The central bank is Trust Bank's main shareholder. It hopes to recover the money through asset sales and loan repayments.

A Trust Bank spokeswoman told Reuters that the recovery rate was still being discussed. The central bank did not reply to a request for comment. It is not clear when the revision will be announced by the central bank.

"The real recovery rate will hardly exceed 20 per cent. It will likely be lower," said one of the sources. "These assets were initially overpriced." A second source said he expected the recovery rate to be between 10 and 20 per cent.

Central bank officials have already said publicly it was aware that most assets, which include real estate and agricultural loans, were overvalued when they were transferred to Trust Bank. REUTERS