The Central Bank of the Russian Federation has introduced restrictions on the maximum volume of deposits attracted from citizens in relation to Sotsgorbank, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Friday , citing representatives of several credit institutions.

According to the publication, the regulator demanded that the bank maintain the amount of liabilities attracted from individuals at a level not exceeding “seven and a bit billion rubles.”

One of the sources clarified that the deposit limit was introduced at the end of January for a period of six months. According to him, “the order was the result of an inspection that has been going on there since December.”

Recently, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Gennady Melikyan warned that the Central Bank does not intend to weaken control over institutions that attract deposits at high rates, although since January 1 the regulator has lost the right to directly limit deposit rates.

The case with Sotsgorbank may turn out to be a precedent: the Central Bank, having lost direct influence on deposit rates, used an alternative tool for influencing tariff policy. For this purpose, one of the largest banks in the Moscow region was chosen.

The volume of citizen deposits as of January 1, 2011 is 7.3 billion rubles. Sotsgorbank ranks 138th in terms of assets among Russian banks.

The bank categorically denies the existence of an order from the Central Bank. “This information is unreliable, we have not received any restrictions or other instructions from the Central Bank, the bank is operating as usual,” stressed Svetlana Basenko, acting chairman of the board of Sotsgorbank. She did not deny the fact of the Central Bank inspection.

At the same time, on January 31, the bank announced on its official website that from February 1 it would stop accepting in the regions one of its most attractive deposit terms, “Saving for Vacation,” although this product was launched on January 25. At the same time, rates on the Capital deposit in euros were lowered.

According to the bank's reporting, its profit in the fourth quarter fell sharply - from 9.7 billion rubles to 3.1 billion. Investments in debt obligations and bills decreased from 2.6 billion rubles to 197 million.

Kommersant: Sotsgorbank came under sanctions from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation