Russia's Association of Regional Banks Tuesday denied a report in a Japanese newspaper claiming it had asked the government to press foreign banks to reschedule loans worth up to $400 billion.

The article appeared in the Nikkei daily and initially fueled a resurgence of risk aversion in financial markets.

But Banking Association head Anatoly Aksakov said no debt rescheduling plan had been - or would be - submitted to the government.

Aksakov told Dow Jones Newswires that the $400 billion figure referred to Russian companies' total foreign debt for the next five years, adding that government reserves and sovereign wealth funds contain around $600 billion, allowing Russian firms not to worry about rescheduling debt.

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Andrew Langley, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com