BEIJING- The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Friday it was extending the local equivalent of $300 million in financing to Russian Railways (RZD), Russia's biggest employer.

The financing will go towards helping to ease the temporary liquidity constraints caused by the decline in long-haul passenger transportation and deferred client payments amid the coronavirus pandemic, AIIB said in a statement.

RZD owns and operates Russia's integrated national passenger and freight railway network, and is the biggest commercial employer with around 900,000 employees as of end-2019.

The loan is part of AIIB's COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility (CRF) that provides up to $13 billion of financing to public and private entities hit by the pandemic.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Mark Potter) ((Ryan.Woo@thomsonreuters.com;))