Putin sanctions drive away banks as loans dry up

Lending to Russian companies reached a crescendo last year, with international banks pledging $31 billion to OAO Rosneft to buy TNK-BP. No Russian companies received loans in U.S. dollars, Swiss francs or euros last month, the first time this has happened in at least five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Global banks fell away in the second quarter, with lending plunging 42 percent from a year earlier to $4.7 billion as the Ukraine conflict worsened after President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in March. International lenders are weighing the political and financial consequences of doing business with Russian companies after the U.S. and European Union stepped up sanctions on the nation's banking and energy industries because of the crisis in Ukraine.

via Business News http://ift.tt/1p4hbxG