The Credit Crisis Has Hit russia’s Largest Banks

russia’s largest bank, “sberbank”, reported a rapid deterioration in the quality of its loan portfolio in its first-half 2026 financial statements. The share of Stage 3 non-performing loans rose from 4.8% to 5.5% over the quarter. With a loan portfolio totaling $658.7 billion, this corresponds to approximately $36.3 billion in non-performing loans. Provisions for potential losses increased by 8.6%, while non-performing loans in project financing rose by 27.9% and in the corporate segment – by 22.6%. Past-due debt rose by 23.7%, and in the mortgage portfolio, it increased by nearly 50%.

“sberbank”’s ceo german gref has acknowledged that the bank’s credit committee is now focusing more on debt restructuring than on issuing new loans. deputy ceo taras skvortsov simultaneously lowered the forecast for russia’s GDP growth in 2026 to 0–0.5% and warned of a possible tax increase in 2027. The bank also reports rising risks among e-commerce companies, particularly surrounding the “wildberries” marketplace, whose customers are turning en masse to the bank for debt restructuring.

“vtb” is facing similar problems. russia’s second-largest state-owned bank, which holds about 8 trillion rubles in retail deposits, has announced a 10% reduction in its central office staff. Its profit for the first half of the year fell by 20%, and in the second quarter – by 34%. Over the quarter, the bank increased its provisions for non-performing loans by nearly a third – to 66.5 billion rubles. Return on equity fell from 20.5% to 13%, while the capital adequacy ratio dropped to 10.7%, compared to the central bank’s minimum requirement of 10%.

“vtb”’s problems began to mount as early as last year. By the end of 2025, the share of non-performing loans in its portfolio had nearly doubled – to 14.2%, which is by about one-third higher than the average for the russian banking system. At the same time, the actual scale of losses may be greater, since a significant portion of the loans was issued to companies involved in military production. “vtb”’s shares have already fallen to historic lows on the moscow exchange, in part due to investor panic over the risks associated with the bank’s strategic partnership with “wildberries”.

The financial reports of russia’s two largest state-owned banks reveal a common trend: expensive loans, weak economic growth, and sanctions are deteriorating the quality of banking assets. Banks are forced to build up reserves, restructure debt, and cut costs, which carries the risk of new defaults and further downsizing in the financial sector.