Demand for cash grows sharply in southern regions and large Russian cities, has now stabilized - Belousov

MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) - Demand for cash surged in Russia's southern regions and major cities amid an attempted mutiny, but the situation has stabilized for now, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said.

"I will start with the situation with the banks, the demand for cash currency. Indeed, there was an increase in demand in about 15 regions of the country, on average, it was about 30%. The most active growth in demand for cash was seen in the southern regions - Voronezh, Rostov, Lipetsk regions, as well as in large cities. There, demand grew by about 70%-80%," he said during a meeting between Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and deputy prime ministers on Monday.

Belousov said that thanks to the "rather precisely work of the Bank of Russia, reinforcement with cash, despite the fact that the volume of such reinforcement grew by about three times, we have completely avoided any disruption of the normal situation." All ATMs operated as normal, and "on Sunday demand declined, and now the situation is completely stabilized," he said.