Russia-based PJSC Moscovskiy Oblastnoi Bank, or Mosoblbank, off-loaded 141 billion rubles of assets from its balance sheet, mostly overdue corporate loans, Kommersant reported.

The changes in the lender's balance sheet took place in November 2019 and reduced the share of overdue loans in its corporate portfolio to 28% from 52%, the newspaper noted, citing Russian central bank data. The reduction in overdue loans allowed Mosoblbank to release 142.3 billion rubles of provisions, according to the Jan. 13 report.

The value of nonperforming loans was reduced mainly due to their write-offs, JSC Bank Severny Morskoy Put, which oversees the financial recovery of Mosoblbank, told Kommersant. Meanwhile, some experts cited by the newspaper said the bad corporate loans could have been sold by the lender at a price significantly below their nominal value.

The Russian central bank launched a financial recovery program for Mosoblbank in 2014 and selected Bank Severny Morskoy Put to oversee the lender's recovery, with around 168 billion rubles allocated via the Russian Deposit Insurance Agency to finance the program, Kommersant noted.

As of Jan. 13, US$1 was equivalent to 61.35 Russian rubles.