MOSCOW, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Russia moved to engineer its first bailout of a distressed bank since the financial crisis began pulling down Russian stocks a week ago, officials said.
The state-owned Development Bank moved to purchase 98 percent of the private Svyaz Bank, the Moscow Times reported Wednesday.
The purchase included a deal to supply Svyaz Bank with enough cash to help it meet its obligations, the Times reported.
Last month, 60 percent of Svyaz Bank's assets were in Russian equities – assets the bank used as collateral for other transactions. When the value of those equities fell last week, the bank was unable to meet margin calls from creditors, the Times reported.
The bank, which handles large pension accounts, "bears a large social responsibility … across the entire country," the Development Bank, also known as Vneshekonombank, said in a statement.
