MILAN, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi di Siena said it expects to remain loss-making through 2022 as the COVID-19 crisis has further derailed its restructuring plan. Monte dei Paschi last week reported a first-half loss of 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), hit by provisions for legal risks and loan losses amid the economic slump caused by the pandemic. In a document published on its website late on Wednesday, the Tuscan bank said gave more details of its first-half financial statement and said it would present a new business plan by the end of the year as it assesses strategic options with adviser Mediobanca. Monte dei Paschi was brought to the brink of collapse by mismanagement and risky derivatives and the Italian government stepped in to rescue it in an 8 billion euro bailout in 2017. Italy must sell its 68% stake in Monte dei Paschi by the end of next year. To prepare the bank for a potential merger, гидра ссылка tor Rome is seeking to rid Monte dei Paschi of 8 billion euros in impaired loans through a complex plan which is being evaluated by the European Central Bank. The ECB has told the bank to beef up its capital buffers to allow the spin-off of the bad loans. Monte dei Paschi said the project, dubbed "Hydra M", was expected to be completed in the last two months of the year.

After that the government would present the European Commission with a plan for the disposal of its Monte dei Paschi stake. In reporting first-half results, the bank said it faces 10 billion euros in legal claims. That figure includes 3.8 billion euros in extra-judicial damage claims filed on July 31 by its former controlling shareholder, a local charitable banking foundation, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi Siena. The bank said in the half-year document it thought most of those claims were likely to be dismissed.

($1 = 0.8451 euros) (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Silvia Aloisi and Jane Merriman)