Russia's VTB says no exposure to B&N bank

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian bank VTB sees no risks from and has no exposure to smaller peer B&N bank or the group it belongs to, VTB said in email to Reuters after B&N asked the central bank for a bail-out on Wednesday. In August, Mikhail Gutseriyev, whose family owns the Safmar group to which B&N belongs, told Vedomosti newspaper that its oil company Russneft owes VTB $1.26 billion (926.88 million pounds). He said in the same interview that Sberbank was another major lender to his oil business. Sberbank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. VTB said in its email that it sees no risks from the financial situation of B&N bank as the state-controlled lender has no exposure to either the bank, or the group. Russia's central bank said it was in talks with B&N about a possible bail-out and a decision would come in the near future. (Reporting by Kira Zavyalova; writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)