Moscow, though furious over the billions lost by Russians in Cypriot banks, still sees Cyprus as a prize worth courting. The Russian government has pushed for access for its military aircraft to an air base in Paphos and for its warships to Cypriot ports.

When Cyprus first appealed for help from the so-called troika of international creditors — the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank — the main problem was Laiki, the country’s second-biggest bank and one that was already effectively insolvent. Instead of just throwing Cyprus a financial lifeline, as it had done with Ireland after a banking crisis that led the government to guarantee all the banks, the troika demanded that Laiki and the Bank of Cyprus share the burden of any rescue deal.

Depositors with large accounts in Laiki Bank were initially left with just 100,000 euros each, about $130,000, and the rest of their money was confiscated as the bank shut down. Those with more than 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus lost access to 90 percent of their cash, although they have since been promised future access to some of their frozen funds. But, under final terms announced on July 30 by the Central Bank of Cyprus, large depositors in the Bank of Cyprus will have 47.5 percent of their money forcibly converted into shares, up from 37.5 percent in an original plan.

Hardly anyone has yet received their share certificates. But, according to the nation’s finance minister, Harris Georgiades, foreign depositors, mainly Russians, will ultimately hold a majority of the Bank of Cyprus’s new voting shares. Lawyers representing clients with blocked money estimate that Russians as a group will end up with roughly 60 percent of the bank’s new shares. Cypriot media reports estimate that 53 percent of the shares will be held by foreigners, primarily Russians, either directly or through law firms representing their interests.

Such an outcome, said Demetris Syllouris, a member of the Cypriot Parliament and president of the European Party, a once enthusiastic pro-Europe political group, is “exactly the opposite” of what European leaders, particularly Angela Merkel of Germany, wanted when they set out to cleanse Cyprus’s banking system in March.