The Russian Finance Ministry is developing a draft regulation, which defines the requirements for banks that have the right to conduct operations with money from the federal budget and from extra-budgetary state funds.
To access the money, the credit institutions must put forward capital reserves of no less than 25 billion rubles (about $370 million) and be under the supervision of the Russian Central Bank and the government.
However, the requirement of government oversight does not apply to all Russia's banks. Exceptions have been made for two banks that have fallen under international sanctions—Russia Bank, owned by Yuri Kovalchuk, and SMP Bank, run by Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. In order to access additional state funds, these two banks would need 25 billion in capital reserves, but they would not be supervised by Russia's banking authorities, reports news outlet RBC.
Kovalchuk and the Rotenbergs are part of Putin's “inner circle.” Putin has publicly referred to them as his “close acquaintances and friends.”
The US Treasury has called Yuri Kovalchuk a “personal banker” for senior Russian officials, including Putin. After the imposition of sanctions, Putin ordered that his salary be directly deposited into an account with Russia Bank.
A source within the Finance Ministry says Putin's friends' banks have been included in the draft regulation despite the fact they are internationally sanctioned, because they are in need of additional financial support.