Russia’s public purse not hurt by Cyprus’ banking crisis

Russia’s public purse has sustained no losses because of the acute banking and financial crisis in Cyprus, Russian Minister of Finance Anton Sinuanov, who leads the Russian delegation to the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, told reporters on Friday. When asked by Itar-Tass about possible losses of Russian public and private companies in Cyprus, Siluanov said, “We have sustained no public losses there. There are blocked accounts of private investors and some individuals.” “We think that those who have accounts with two banks - the Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank - may sustain losses. As for other banks, we expect that restrictions will soon be lifted and our companies, organizations or individuals would not suffer losses,” he said. When asked to cite a preliminary figure, he answered, “I cannot say.”