At the height of the economic crisis, in 2009, the Russian government allocated $50 billion to its development bank Vneshekonombank (VEB) to help refinance companies’ foreign loans.
The Bell reports that Oleg Deripaska’s metals company was the largest recipient, receiving $4.5 billion. Deripaska also received another 20 billion rubles for his company GAZ. In October, The Bell already named Deripaska as being at risk of appearing on the blacklist.
Vneshekonombank also supported Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group and Alisher Usmanov’s company Metalloinvest. The companies received $2 billion and 31 billion rubles, respectively, the report says.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that wealthy Russians have begun preparing for the fresh sanctions by moving their money back to Russia, reversing a trend of capital flight.