PRESS: Russia’s VEB may raise 180 bln rbl via asset sale in 2016

MOSCOW, Jun 7 (PRIME) -- The Russian government plans to solve the liquidity crisis of state-owned Vnesheconombank (VEB) mainly through a sale of assets which may raise up to 180 billion rubles for the bank in 2016, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday, citing a draft strategy of VEB.

VEB plans to sell 132 billion rubles of shares and American depositary receipts (ADRs) of gas giant Gazprom, 18 billion rubles of shares of the Moscow Exchange, and return 20 billion rubles of troubled assets, the daily said.

The bank also plans to sell the affiliates which it qualifies as excessive. Firstly, this refers to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), SME Bank, the Far East Development Fund and the North Caucasus Development Corporation. Then VEB plans to sell its subsidiary banks Globexbank, Sviaz-Bank, Ukraine’s Prominvestbank, Belarus’ BelVEB and Hong Kong’s VEB-Asia, and also affiliate VEB-Innovations.

The leasing unit VEB-Leasing is planned to remain under the VEB control but it can be restructured, the bank said.

Under a scenario in the draft strategy, VEB will not need capital injections in 2017 and 2018, but it will need 150 billion rubles in 2019–2021. The borrowing from the National Wealth Fund designed to secure the pension system is planned at 60 billion rubles in 2017, 80 billion rubles in 2018, and 130 billion rubles in 2019–2021. VEB will also borrow 80 billion rubles on the market in 2017, 120 billion rubles in 2018, and 180 billion rubles a year in 2019–2021.

The strategy’s another scenario implies capital injections of 45 billion rubles in 2017, 55 billion rubles in 2018, and 250 billion rubles in 2019–2021.

(65.7894 rubles – U.S. $1)

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