MOSCOW (AFP) ― Russia said Friday it was studying a new 5 billion euros ($6.2 billion) loan request from Cyprus needed to shore up struggling Cypriot banks from financial turmoil rocking nearby Greece.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed that the assistance package was separate from one he said the Mediterranean island nation had sought from the European Union in hopes of injecting its financial system with cash.

“We have received the request,” news agencies quoted Siluanov as saying.

“The European Union is studying (their request), and we are studying” the other one.

Russia Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (Bloomberg)

Cyprus has close business relations with Russia and remains one of its largest direct investors because of money placed in its finance houses by various post-Soviet tycoons.

Analysts note a particular interest by Moscow in making sure Cyprus does not fail as that would deprive Russian authorities of cash needed to pursue their stalled efforts to modernize and diversify the economy away from oil exports.

Cyprus has refused to officially estimate how badly its banks have been exposed to bad debts from Greece.

But local media speculate the figure could be close to 10 billion euros ― about half of the country’s gross domestic product ― and say it is needed quickly to recapitalize leading lenders like Cyprus Popular Bank.

The latest request comes on top of a loan worth 2.5 billion euros that Cyprus secured from Russia after months of protracted negotiations in 2011.

Russia has only paid out one-third of that package and officials seemed hesitant to commit to more money without knowing what other international lenders intended to do.

The finance ministry’s loan department chief said much would depend on the European Union’s decision ― a comment suggesting that Moscow was waiting for already-stretched officials in Brussels to make the first more.

“We are currently studying the expedience of extending another loan,” news agencies quoted department head Konstantin Vyshkovsky as saying.

He added that the European Union’s loan decision will “most directly impact” what Russia does.

Cyprus’ finance minister said much of the trouble resulted from the European Union’s decision to back an EU-IMF bailout for Greece that enabled Athens to write off more than 100 billion euros of debt owed to private banks.

Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said as his country assumed the EU’s rotating presidency on Friday that Cyprus lost about 4.2 billion euros as a result of that deal.

But on Friday, Shiarly also denied officially asking for loans from either Russia or China, another potential source of finances for struggling European economies.

The Cypriot finance minister confirmed only being in contact with Moscow and Beijing.

“If and when it (the Russian loan) comes, we will discuss it with our partners in Europe and deal with it then,” Shiarly said in Nicosia.