Yevgenia Pismennaya
VEB
Authorised capital to grow
The Government may agree to increase VEB's capitalisation and guarantee its liabilities under an anti-crisis plan
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday that the Finance Ministry decided last week to increase Vnesheconombank's (VEB) authorised capital and was now discussing the amount. According to two officials familiar with the issue, the state corporation was unlikely to receive the 350 billion roubles it requested from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is the chairman of its supervisory board. The sum currently being discussed is ten times smaller - 35 billion roubles, the officials said. A final decision, according to them, is to be taken this week.
VEB Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev sent two letters to Mr Putin in November, asking him to increase the bank's authorised capital. Early in November, he suggested the Government allocate 950 billion roubles, but towards the end of the month reduced the requested sum to 350 billion roubles. He insisted, however, that the state should act as a guarantor for all of VEB's obligations related to the allocation of state funds under an anti-crisis measure.
"Neither 950 billion nor even 350 billion roubles can be spared for VEB. We hope Mr Dmitriev will understand this," said an official close to the corporation's supervisory board. But, according to two members of the Government staff, the state guarantees sought by the bank are likely to be issued. They will most likely be reserved in a contingency fund, not the federal budget. A distribution format is now being devised.
A VEB spokesman declined to comment on the increases. A source close to the bank said that if the Government pledged its guarantees, "we could discuss the bank's capitalisation."