Russia’s Central Bank has advised creditors to offer loan relief to businesses impacted by ongoing Ukrainian drone strikes against Wildberries logistics facilities, according to a letter published by the regulator on Monday.
Ukraine has attacked almost two dozen Wildberries logistics centers since mid-July, accusing the company of supplying the Russian military with drone parts and other equipment.
The strikes have wiped out a significant portion of the e-commerce giant’s storage capacity and cost third-party merchants hundreds of billions of rubles, according to Forbes Russia.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises that have suffered as a result of terrorist attacks on logistics centers, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, retail, offices and other premises will be able to apply to have their loans restructured,” the regulator said in its letter.
Major Russian lenders, including Sberbank and VTB, as well as Wildberries Bank, have announced their readiness to offer restructuring programs and debt relief to affected vendors and partners.
Sergei Melamed, a senior executive at Sberbank, confirmed that the bank has already received around 2,000 applications for loan restructuring from business owners impacted by the disruptions.
Reuters contributed reporting.
