Sberbank of Russia is confident it can navigate the impact of the coronavirus, despite the central bank warning that the health of the country's banking sector could worsen toward the end of 2020.

Russia is one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, having recorded almost 282,000 infections and 2,631 deaths due to COVID-19 as of May 17, official government data shows.

Both Sberbank and VTB Bank PJSC, Russia's two largest banks by assets, claim they will not need state support.

Sberbank is well-capitalized and recorded consistent full-year net income growth from 2017 to 2019, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, though profit in the first quarter of 2020 fell roughly 47% year-over-year as it booked significant provisions due to the pandemic. The bank's asset quality deteriorated at the end of 2019 as its nonperforming loan ratio ticked up on a yearly basis to 4.8% from 4.2%.

CEO Herman Gref said Sberbank would remain profitable even in the worst-case crisis scenario, which assumes a 15% GDP slump and oil prices temporarily falling to $0 per barrel. The lender also sees opportunities, saying the crisis could accelerate its digital transformation.

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In March, Russia's central bank extended 632.9 billion rubles in loans to systemically important lenders including Sberbank and VTB, among others. VTB alone borrowed 258.6 billion rubles, according to RBC, and the bank's provisions rose 200% year on year in the first quarter of 2020.

VTB's capital levels dropped at the end of 2019 as it recorded a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 8.7%, compared to 10.7% at the end of 2018, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. Its net income increased gradually between 2017 and 2019, while its NPL ratio fell to 5.1% in 2019 from 6.2% in 2018.

CEO Andrey Kostin said VTB is prepared to deal with the upcoming economic challenges. Still, the lender plans to revise its 2020 profit target due to the crisis and could reduce dividend payouts on government-owned preference shares.

As of May 15, US$1 was equivalent to 73.76 Russian rubles.