Earlier this month Rusnano, the state-owned investment corporation set-up in 2007 to nurture nanotechnologies and related innovation, admitted it had accumulated a “disproportionate debt,” reports TheBell.io.
On Friday, Nov. 19, the Central Bank ordered the Moscow Stock Exchange to suspend trading of Rusnano’s bonds, while company management were reportedly locked in debt restructure negotiations. Unsurprisingly, as trading of Rusnano bonds resumed Monday last week, quotes fell sharply.
The situation will test the government’s willingness to incur financial losses on high-risk investments, believes Konstantin Anglichanov, Senior Director at Fitch. The agency — the only Western agency with a rating for Rusnano — placed Rusnano’s already low credit rating under review on Wednesday last week.
“It’s almost impossible to discern what Rusnano is doing with the mandate it received from the state,” Anglichanov said. Some observers go as far as doubting state-driven innovation in Russia can ever be successful.
State-owned investment corporation Rusnano struggles with “disproportionate debt”Read More
