OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2008. The Bank of Russia can issue collateral-free loans to banks worth up to RUB 3.5 tn. “The overall limit of funds for banks selected by CBR and entitled to bid in auctions as part of collateral-free lending, with their number exceeding 120, is RUB 3.5 tn. And the Bank of Russia has been using it as more than RUB 1.2 tn has already been placed with banks” – Vice PM and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told journalists after a Cabinet meeting. He noted that during hard times for banks when they faced a liquidity shortage, MinFin lent support to the financial system via the auction mechanism to place temporarily free budget funds. According to Kudrin, at that time, MinFin imposed a limit for 24 banks, which were allowed to bid, at RUB 1.5 tn. “The amount of temporarily free funds placed with banks reached RUB 878 bn” – the head of MinFin said. Then, according to Kudrin, CBR was assigned the right to hold auctions for floating collateral-free loans, shouldering the main burden.