Ljubljana - Slovenia's largest bank, NLB, has acquired the Slovenian subsidiary of Russia's Sberbank in a move that the central bank said would preserve the financial stability in the country after Russian-owned banks suffered a loss of trust due to sanctions against Russia.

"There were two options for the resolution of the Slovenian Sberbank: either it ceases operations and savers are compensated in accordance with guarantee scheme rules, or it gets a new owner," the central bank said Tuesday evening.

The sale means that Sberbank branches will reopen tomorrow after two days of closure and limited transactions for clients. "All Sberbank clients will conduct banking services without disturbances from tomorrow."

The decision was reached in agreement with the EU's Single Resolution Board, which determined that Sberbank's subsidiaries in Slovenia and Croatia were " failing or likely to fail due to a rapid deterioration in their liquidity situation," even as it decided no resolution was necessary for their Austrian parent.

SRB chair Elke König said the three decisions "protect financial stability and the depositors up to an amount of EUR 100,000 in Austria and with no limits in both Slovenia and Croatia."

"Today, we acted to protect the public interest and ensure financial stability. All of this has been done without having to use public funds, so not only are Sberbank's customers protected, the taxpayer is too."

Slovenian Sberbank is the only Russian-owned bank in Slovenia.