Russia’s central bank urges banks to ease terms for businesses hit by Ukrainian drone strikes it calls ‘terrorist attacks’

The Bank of Russia has advised financial institutions to ease lending terms for small and medium-sized businesses affected by Ukrainian drone strikes, which the central bank labels as "terrorist attacks." In an online bulletin, the bank instructed lenders to approve changes to loan conditions, including the possibility of deferring payments, without requiring borrowers to demonstrate legal eligibility.

Moreover, the central bank requested banks to forgo imposing fines or penalties for late payments and not to demand immediate loan repayment. The Bank of Russia emphasized that such restructuring should not impact entrepreneurs' credit records. The authority also advocated that banks view these adjustments as individual actions to bolster businesses, a stance to remain in place until August 31, 2027.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Wildberries' logistics centers have led to substantial economic damage, with the company allegedly suffering losses surpassing 100 billion rubles since mid-July. Early estimates for August suggested losses between 215 and 280 billion rubles for sellers. Meduza, an English-language news outlet, confirms that this report was authored by a human journalist and translated from Russian using an AI tool that adheres to stringent editorial guidelines.

The editorial team conducts a thorough review of each draft before publication. Readers can report any inaccuracies in this translation to reports@meduza.io.