NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Most Important Bank Needs a Bailout. VEB faces task of paying off about $20 billion in foreign-currency debt.” – Wall Street Journal
When the Russian government needed to build up infrastructure in … Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, it turned to Russia’s most important lender: Vnesheconombank, the country’s state-owned development bank. … eventually holding the equivalent of at least $2.9 billion in overdue loans. … the bill is coming due. VEB for years kept its books in balance by borrowing heavily from foreign lenders. But after being slapped with sanctions … following Russia’s annexation of Crimea … the bank faces the task of paying off about $20 billion in foreign-currency debt, about $3 billion of which comes due this year, with much-diminished access to capital markets. * * * The trouble at VEB—which has the equivalent of $56.9 billion in consolidated assets, equal to about 5.5% of Russia’s gross domestic product—is a significant issue for the Russian state.