Russia's Latest Bailouts Have the Central Bank Counting Its Chickens
- B&N owners give central bank chicken plants, cement factories
- Rescues of B&N and Otkritie could cost as much as $14 billion
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Russia’s new bailout mechanism has left the country’s central bank holding assets as diverse as poultry plants and nanotechnology firms. Now the regulator has to figure out just what to do with its motley collection of companies.
The Bank of Russia has twice used a new rescue fund since the end of August to take over lenders so it doesn’t spend money outsourcing such bailouts to the private sector. The nationalizations of B&N Bank PJSC and Bank Otkritie FC came with a range of businesses that may complicate efforts to ultimately sell the banks back into private hands.