Among the problems faced by PSB, a Russian bank ranked in the top five by asset size and holding more than 1 trillion rubles in resident deposits, is loan non-repayment, as seen from its report. In the first half of this year, PSB set aside nearly 195.7 billion rubles to cover potential credit losses – four times more than in the same period last year, writes “The Moscow Times”.
Read more Saulius Vasiliauskas: «Right now, I mostly want to reduce the workload a bit»
PSB, which serves the defense industry and is 100% state-controlled, has become the only large Russian bank operating at a loss, notes Isa Aliyev, an analyst at RSHB Asset Management. According to him, the bank “takes on risk due to directive lending at margins set under non-market conditions.” Military factories supplying products to the Russian army sent to Ukraine receive loans through PSB.
The scale of the bank’s losses from these loans is so large that they “consume” almost all of its interest income – that is, income derived from the difference between the cost of issued loans and the interest paid on deposits. Taking into account provisions, PSB’s net interest income in the first half of the year fell nearly tenfold – from 168.7 billion to 16.9 billion rubles, according to the bank’s report. Additionally, the bank incurred 22.8 billion rubles in other losses, the nature of which it does not disclose.
PSB’s losses are compensated by the state budget, says Aliyev. Since the beginning of 2026, the state has already recapitalized the bank four times. The last time was on July 15 – the bank was allocated 39.3 billion rubles. Before that, on June 10, the capital was increased by 3 billion rubles.
Read more Royal Palace: King Harald of Norway hospitalized
According to the Central Bank of Russia, on April 1, 3.9% of all loans issued by banks were problematic – about 3.5 trillion rubles. However, a broader indicator of problematic loans was three times higher – 11.6%. In monetary terms, the volume of problematic loans on banks’ balance sheets reached 11.2 trillion rubles – an amount equivalent to two annual budgets of Moscow. This figure also includes loans whose terms banks were forced to soften because borrowers could no longer meet their obligations on time.
Potential difficulties in repaying debts may arise from loans worth 36 trillion rubles – three-quarters of all debts of the largest Russian companies, reports the Central Bank. Among the major companies in critical condition are firms in the coal, construction, trade, and machinery manufacturing sectors, the Russian central bank previously wrote.
Read more The Lithuanian team participated for the first time in the World Long-Range Shooting Championship
