MOSCOW, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Russian banks will see their collective net profit falling to 735 billion roubles ($10 billion) in 2021, nearly half of what they are on track to make this year, Russian credit rating agency ACRA said on Tuesday. The Russian banking sector this year has taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns, which have led to an economic contraction and a weaker rouble. The central bank has warned that Russia’s banking system could face a rise in bad loans due to the coronavirus crisis, something that banks have hedged against by building up reserves. “Russian banks have started increasing provisions for reserves in 2020, although this process will reach its peak in 2021. To a large extent, this will reflect on net profit,” ACRA said in a report. ACRA expects banks in Russia to make 1.41 trillion roubles in net profit this year, a 16% decline from 2019. In the first ten months of 2020, they made a profit of 1.3 trillion roubles, according to the central bank. “The banking sector managed to pass the acute phase of the crisis without serious losses and could retain stability in 2021 if the economic situation does not get worse,” ACRA said. ACRA expects the Russian economy to expand 3.8% next year - the fastest growth since 2012 - and the rouble to firm up, assuming no new Western sanctions are imposed on Moscow, the agency’s head said in an interview with Reuters. ($1 = 73.3100 roubles) (Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh and Tatiana Voronova; Editing by Jan Harvey)