Skip to main content
  • Share to or

Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova Group says it needs a government bailout (or two)

Source: Meduza

Still reeling from the U.S. sanctions announced in early April, Viktor Vekselberg’s “Renova Group” conglomerate is asking the Russian government for a bailout. According to the newspaper Kommersant, the company has ambitiously proposed several forms of assistance. Renova says it doesn’t expect to get everything on its wish list, but the company says it needs some kind of state support to avoid major layoffs.

What does Renova want?

  • Refinancing in state-owned banks (secured on Renova’s 26.5-percent stake in Rusal) of 820 million euros ($982 million) in loans from Western companies
  • Preferential treatment when it comes to awarding state contracts to its subsidiary industrial and developer holdings
  • Tax breaks, including zero tariffs on imported raw materials and restrictive import duties on direct competitors’ products, as well as an embargo on imported mineral water and sodas

According to Reuters, the U.S. government has frozen between $1.5 and $2 billion in Renova’s assets. The Russian government has vowed to provide assistance to the companies hurt by Washington’s “oligarch” sanctions, and the State Duma is currently considering legislation that would authorize various “counter-sanctions.”

  • Share to or