Russia, China Banks Sign Deal

Russian state development bank VEB signed an agreement on Tuesday to attract six billion yuan ($882.35 million) from China Development Bank for innovations, including the development of blockchain technologies, VEB head Sergei Gorkov told reporters, Reuters said. Blockchain technology provides an electronic record-keeping and transaction-processing system, which lets all parties track documentation through a secure network and requires no third-party verification. In a separate statement on Tuesday on the deal, VEB said it had signed a framework agreement with China Development Bank under which the Russian lender will receive 50 billion rubles in financing over 15 years. VEB is under western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict and therefore cannot raise long-term financing from US and European investors. VEB has been grappling with a mountain of bad debt after projects in Russia such as construction for the Sochi Winter Olympics. The framework agreement was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow.