The number of hostage-takings in Moscow has shot up sharply this year, mainly because small banks turn to illegal methods to obtain repayment of loans, a police official said Wednesday.


Alexander Vakhnenkov, deputy head of the city anti-organized crime department, said at a press conference that 290 people had been taken hostage in the city during the first 11 months of this year, compared with only 16 over the same period last year.


"Most of people taken hostage were unlucky businessmen who took out bank loans and failed to repay them," he said. "Bankers try to find any way to get their money back, including illegal methods."


Vakhnenkov said big commercial banks avoided giving loans to people they did not know but small- and medium-sized banks do so and then turn to crime groups to gain repayment. He did not name any banks involved.


Officials of large banks have said that some smaller banks are controlled by or beholden to organized crime.


Boris Sergeyev, a board member of Tokobank, the largest Russian-owned private bank, said last year that some of these small banks start as "black cash desks," or Russia's loan sharks.


Another banker said at first criminals "put pressure" on small banks. "When they become stronger and have a lot of money, they can buy the banks."


Vakhnenkov said, "What can we say about these businessmen when even state enterprises do not pay money to each other?"


Vakhnenkov advised that if people are told by criminals that relatives or friends are held hostage for ransom, they should immediately phone 958-5672, the number for the police squad dealing with the freeing of hostages.


"Our people will speak to you and explain everything that you must or not must do," Vakhnenkov said.


He said the first rule was not to talk about the trouble with neighbors or relatives. "Unfortunately, they can also be involved in the crime.


"The second rule is that relatives or friends should not undertake their own actions to free a hostage," he said.