The Central Bank of the Russian Federation placed the International bank of Saint-Petersburg (JSC) into provisional administration due to the lender's unstable financial situation.

The Deposit Insurance Agency has been appointed as interim administrator for six months, the regulator said in its Oct. 15 filing, and the powers of the lender's shareholders and management bodies have been suspended.

The central bank also imposed a three-month moratorium on payments to the lender's creditors. The introduction of the moratorium is an insured event, which means that retail deposit holders, including individual entrepreneurs, will receive compensation of up to 1.4 million Russian rubles each for deposits at the bank, with payments to start within 14 days from the imposition of the moratorium.

International Bank of Saint Petersburg is controlled by Russian businessman Sergey Bazhanov, Vedomosti said Oct. 15. The value of its deposits stood at 19.26 billion rubles as of Sept. 1, according to the newspaper.

As of Oct. 15, US$1 was equivalent to 65.55 Russian rubles.