OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2009. The Bank of Russia is conducting stress tests at specific banks, including major ones, but has no plans to publish their results, vice PM and finance minister Alexey Kudrin said at a meeting of G8 finance ministers on June 13. Summarizing results of this meeting he pointed out that its attendees “discussed stress tests as an essential tool to find out the real state of affairs at banks, their capitalizations and strengthen confidence in the banking system”.

In addition, Kudrin said that “experience amassed by the United States and the EU on this front was thoroughly examined”. Stress tests or “in-depth supervisory checks” are being carried out at Russian lending institutions, he said. “Key banks are also covered by this procedure,” the minister specified adding this is not common international practice to make public results of these tests. For instance, the EC directive, according to him, bans the publication of stress test results. “We also have no plans to release them,” Kudrin said adding this is essential so that a supervisory body monitors measures to resolve all problems relating to balance sheets or shore up capitalizations of banks.