= new reply since forum marked as read
“But some of the world’s biggest money managers -- flush with cash and attracted to VEB’s relatively juicy 5 percent yields -- have instead been loading up on the Russian lender’s bonds. BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments are among those buying dollar-denominated notes in secondary markets, so much so that they now hold more of the debt than at any point since the sanctions. VEB, whose full name is Vnesheconombank, is seizing on the market’s embrace and holding meetings with international investors in spite of the optics.
“Western investors are a lot more comfortable with Russian credit risk as the segment remained resilient during a very challenging period,” said Apostolos Bantis, a credit strategist at Commerzbank AG in Dubai. “The Trump investigation and new sanctions won’t derail the momentum.”
BlackRock stressed that its purchases are fully compliant with financial sanctions, which also target Gazprombank JSC, Sberbank PJSC and VTB Group. A spokesman for the world’s biggest money manager said the overwhelming majority of its VEB positions are held by funds that mirror benchmark bond indexes.
snip
An official for VEB declined to comment on its meetings with international bondholders, the effect of sanctions on its funding or the meeting between Gorkov and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son in law.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-07/russian-bank-at-center-of-trump-storm-lures-blackrock-fidelity
...I guess all this wheelin and dealin is in the up and up, right?? 
