Euro zone supports Cypriot request for Russian loan extension - doc

BERLIN Jan 28 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers support Cyprus's request for a five-year extension from Russia to repay a 2.5 billion euro loan due in 2016, according to a German finance ministry document seen by Reuters on Monday.

"The government of Cyprus reported in the Eurogroup (meeting last Monday) that it had asked the Russian Federation for an extension of the existing loan by five years," the document read. "The government of Cyprus has the Eurogroup's support on this."

Cyprus, one of the smallest euro zone economies, applied for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in June last year after its banks were badly burnt by an EU-sanctioned writedown of Greek sovereign debt held by private investors.

An extension could help take the immediate urgency out of a bailout.