By Andrey Ostroukh
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia--The Ukrainian crisis caused major
turmoil in Russia's financial sector but the Bank of Russia now has
no concerns about Ukraine-related risks for Russian lenders and
hopes that credit card giants Visa and MasterCard will continue
operations in Russia, the central bank chairwoman said Tuesday.
Geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, exacerbated by
Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and the
subsequent Western sanctions against the Kremlin, fueled capital
flight from Russia and sent the ruble to all-time lows.
The emergency situation prompted the central bank to raise
interest rates in an attempt to shield Russia from external shocks,
and the parliament passed a law that would make doing business in
Russia difficult for U.S. credit card companies.
Speaking at a news conference at an annual banking forum, Elvira
Nabiullina said the central bank isn't concerned about the health
of the Russian banking sector, although net capital outflow this
year may miss the forecast of $85 billion-$90 billion.
In the first five months, Russia drained around $70 billion in
net capital outflow, more than in the whole of 2013.
Commenting on a draft law to ban companies and banks with
headquarters in Russia, which is being considered by the Ukrainian
parliament, Mrs. Nabiullina said such a law will have a negative
impact on the already crisis-hit economy.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, expressed
hopes that this law won't be passed as it would take its toll on
the Ukrainian economy.
Write to Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com