MOSCOW: Russia's central bank said Thursday that it was taking over the nation's eighth-largest lender, B&N Bank, less than a month after it rescued another major lender to avoid a crisis in the banking sector.

The Bank of Russia said in its statement that B&N Bank, which had requested a bailout Wednesday, would benefit from a "reinforcement of its financial stability" by having the central bank become its principal investor and the tapping of state funds to shore up troubled banks.