MOSCOW, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Russian government will extend a subordinated loan of up to 950 billion rubles (about 36 billion U.S. dollars) to banks to help the banking industry tide over the global financial turmoil, Russian media reported on Tuesday.

    The sub-loan will be divided into four parts for the major banks, the Itar-Tass news agency cited President Dmitry Medvedev as saying following a meeting with economic officials.

    Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the sub-loan package is a "preventative measure" that was designedto support the banking system and to guarantee the robustness of the Russian financial system.

    "This decision is not just intended to inject liquidity into the banking system...but to strengthen the capital of Russian banks," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

    Kudrin said the loan, coming from budget money, would be disbursed to major banks within one year.

    "The Central Bank as the main shareholder in Sberbank will issue 500 billion rubles (19 billion U.S. dollars) directly to that bank. The government, as the main shareholder in VTB bank, will lend the latter 200 billion rubles (7.7 billion U.S. dollars)and the government, as the main shareholder in Rosselkhozbank, will lend it 25 billion rubles (1 billion U.S. dollars)," Kudrin said.

    Other banks are expected to obtain up to 225 billion rubles (8.6 billion U.S. dollars) of loan via the Russian Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank, VEB), Kudrin said.

    Russian stock market slid into a new low on Monday, when the benchmark Russian Trading System (RTS) index and the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (MICEX) index plummeted by nearly 20 percent amid the global financial crisis.