Home Credit and Finance is forced to lay off staff to streamline costs amid weaker revenue and tougher standards introduced by the Central Bank, says Vedomosti.

      According to the newspaper, the bank is downsizing about 10 percent of the staff.

      Reductions apply to mid-level as well as rank and file employees, the newspaper quotes two fired managers as saying.

      Currently, the bank has a staff of 31,047.

      The Russian banking industry suffered a severe shock in the second half of 2013 when the Central Bank revoked licences from 25 lenders, including Master Bank, one of the top 100 Russian banks by assets.

      Following that, smaller Russian banks saw a capital outflow worth RUR 430 billion in November 2013 amid fears of further shakeups in the national banking sector.

      According to Vedomosti, customers relocated their deposits from minor banks to bigger ones, like Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank or Unicredibank.

      November saw a growth in the volume of deposits by RUR 498 billion while the Top 100 lenders that control 82 percent of the deposit markets registered an inflow of RUR 928 billion. The difference is considered to be the amount that the smaller banks’ customers withdrew to avoid a possible collapse.

      To make things worse, the Central Bank has engaged in tough rhetoric, prompting many to reconsider their savings strategies.

      Big banks, including state-run Sberbank and VTB, have been among those who benefited most.

      The Central Bank launched a purge after former Economics Elvira Nabiullina took over chairmanship in July 2013.