Russia's biggest lender, state-run Sberbank, has released  a list of former employees fired for breach of duty on its web site, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on Monday.

The campaign is an attempt by the bank to stamp out corruption and malpractice among its employees across Russia, Vedomosti quoted Sberbank spokesman Alexander Baziyan as saying.

The list comprises 426 names of employees fired during the January 2009 - August 2010 period.

"All of these people were dismissed according to the article [of Russia's labor code]. We do not want them to work in the banking system again," an unnamed Sberbank official told Vedomosti.

"With such a record, it is almost impossible to get another job in a bank," the paper quoted the board chairman of Russian Soyuz bank, Andrei Khandruev, as saying.

Sberbank is one of the first financial institutions in Russia to publish a blacklist of ex-employees. The Central Bank of Russia and the state Deposit Insurance Agency have published similar lists, but theirs only included top personnel.

Russian state-owned bank VTB24 criticized Sberbank's campaign.

"VTB24 does not have such a list. Even if it did, we would not put it on public display," VTB24 Spokeswoman Anna Amelkina told Vedomosti, adding that everyone should be allowed a second chance.

MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti)