MOSCOW: Russia's state development bank VEB will be able to meet foreign debt repayments next year worth around $3 billion, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said on Tuesday.
The bank has been hit by Western sanctions over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis which have limited its ability to raise funds abroad.
The Russian authorities are considering a support package of as much as 1.3 trillion roubles ($18 billion) to help the bank deal with bad loans and repay external debt, with support measures due by year-end.
"Next year quite a big, but not critical, amount of external repayments falls due, their total sum does not exceed $3 billion - it's fully feasible for VEB so we will cope with it," Ulyukayev said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television.
"The most important for VEB is to still be able to function (as a development institute), not just exist and meet its obligations," he said.
VEB has this month repaid an $800 million loan to a syndicate of foreign banks.
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