TIMELINE-Russian banks struggle with bad loans

MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Russian banks have yet to see a
peak in bad loans which have forced them to channel $28 billion
into provisions this year, wiping out profits across the banking
sector.

Following is a chronology of recent key events in the
sector:

MAY

May 19 - Problem loans could soar to 35 percent to 50
percent of total lending in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan,
Standard & Poor's says. [ID:nLJ957879]

JUNE

June 1 - Russian banks may need to be recapitalised with
around 1.3 trillion roubles ($43.10 billion) in 2009, Moody's
says. [ID:nL1554029]

June 5 - President Dmitry Medvedev rules out creating a "bad
bank" to clean up bad loans. [ID:nL534983]

June 19 - VTB says bad debts could rise to $9 billion by
June 2010. [ID:nLJ543168]

June 29 - VTB says will likely make a loss this year.
[ID:nLT624294] [ID:nLT718543] [ID:nLT16910]

June 30 - Alfa Bank President Pyotr Aven says defaults may
hit $130 billion in the next 12 months. [ID:nLU501949]

- Russian banks require $20 billion to $80 billion in
additional capital within a year as non-performing loans will
reach 15 percent to 40 percent of banks' loan portfolios by
year-end, Fitch says. [ID:nLU368648]

JULY

July 9 - Russia says it will spend 150 billion roubles in
2009 and 310 billion in 2010 on recapitalising banks via OFZ
treasury bills. [ID:nL9317896]

July 14 - Sberbank restructures 6.5 percent of its corporate
loan portfolio and 5 percent of its retail loans. [ID:nLE295374]

July 22 - Oleg Vyugin, chairman of MDM bank, says bad loan
levels in the banking system are already at 10 percent.
[ID:nLM83854]

AUGUST

Aug 27 - Sberbank will complete and sell real estate
projects it has accumulated, as non-performing loans rise and it
forecloses on pledged assets. [ID:nLR76657]

Aug 28 - Russian officials cut forecasts for banks' bad
loans to less than 10 percent by year-end and said state help
for the sector could be scaled back. [ID:nLR695672]

SEPTEMBER

Sept 7 - VTB sells 41.5 percent of a new share issue for
180.03 billion roubles ($5.7 billion) to the state.
[ID:nL0449822]

Sept 16 - Russian companies have restructured the lion's
share of problem debts but the issue will stay on the 2010
agenda, the local head of Raiffeisen RIBH.VI says.
[ID:nLG149961]

Sept 21 - Sberbank SBER03.MM says it expects provisions to
rise above the forecast of 10 percent in 2009. [ID:nNLP502374]

Sept 30 - Central bank Chairman Sergei Ignatyev says the
Russian banking system as a whole will likely end 2009 in the
black, and Russia's Alfa Bank backtracks from an earlier gloomy
prognosis and says "there is no danger of catastrophe" for the
financial system. [ID:nLU343674]

OCTOBER

Oct 15 - Russia's top 20 banks had restructured about 26
percent of loans to their largest borrowers by Sept. 1.
[ID:nLF592601]

Oct 21 - Russia's central bank has conducted a series of
banking stress tests which showed no major threat to the system.
[ID:nLL682825]

- VTB (VTBR.MM) said it posted a net loss of 11.0 billion
roubles ($374.8 million) in the second quarter of 2009, but said
the worst was over. [ID:nLL696643]

Oct 29 - Moody's expects bad loans at Russian banks to rise
to 20 percent of the total portfolio this year and to 25 percent
in 2010. [ID:nL012582]

Oct 30 - The Russian government will more than halve the
funds aimed at supporting banks in 2010 to 100 billion roubles.
[ID:nLU657368]

NOVEMBER

Nov 20 - Moody's sees VTB, Sberbank loan losses at 16-27
percent. [ID:nLK587383]

Nov 23 - Russia central banker says bad loan growth yet to
peak. [ID:nGEE5AM2LM]

DECEMBER

Dec 9 - The share of bad loans in Russian banks' portfolios
may stop growing by the second half of 2010, and total loan
losses may reach 14 percent of banks' portfolios by 2012,
Standard & Poor's ratings agency said. [ID:nGEE5B8194]

Dec 17 - Russia central bank sees more bank failures in
2010. [ID:nLDE5BG1QK]

- VTB said it may return to black in the second
quarter of 2010, and provisions should peak at 10 percent to 12
percent in the first half. [ID:nLDE5BG0BV]

Dec 30 - Non-performing loans at Russian banks' picked up
slightly to stand at 5.2 percent of the total loan portfolio as
of Dec. 1. [ID:nLDE5BT0DT]
($1=30.16 Rouble)
(Compiled by Dmitry Sergeyev; editing by Simon Jessop)