The bank is also looking into getting a subordinated loan from Vneshekonombank to refinance its external debt, chairman Andrei Donskikh said Friday.
Donskikh told reporters that the bank was not experiencing liquidity problems. The majority of its debt to foreign lenders, between 700 million and 800 million rubles, will come due in 2009, he said. UralSib Bank has 350 million rubles still due in 2008.
Richard Hainsworth, CEO of ratings agency Rusrating, said the decision was nothing unusual.
"It's not as if there is a massive hole they're trying to fill," he said. "They're probably dealing with a host of situations that have to do with the crisis, problems common to all Russian banks."
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