Sberbank" href="http://www.themoscowtimes.com/related/Sberbank/">Sberbank expects profit to recover and bad loan provisions to peak next year, but the bank still plans to slash up to a quarter of its workforce by 2014, a company official said Wednesday.

The job cuts are in line with the bank’s business plan, which sees Russia’s biggest lender reducing staff in coming years as it boosts productivity. This year alone, it plans to cut its work force by 10 percent, or about 27,000 people.

“Due to an improvement in productivity, we will have the possibility over five years to optimize staff by 20 to 25 percent,” said Denis Bugrov, a member of Sberbank’s management board.

“In 2010 we see the possibility of moving from anti-crisis management to planned growth and development,” Bugrov said. “We expect a very significant improvement in the financial results for 2010 compared with 2009.”