OAO Sberbank and VTB Group, Russia’s biggest banks, were cut to “hold” from “speculative buy” at UralSib Financial Corp., citing “aggressive growth” in non- performing loans.

Loans in or near default may make up 9 percent of corporate loans and 12 percent of retail loans by the end of the year, UralSib analyst Leonid Slipchenko and Natalya Mayorova in Moscow wrote in a note today.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Mauldin in Moscow at wmauldin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net