VEB Takes Over Sanctions-Hit Ship Plant

Russian state development lender Vnesheconombank (VEB) has taken over Angstrem-T‘s semiconductors plant, the lender said on its website, after the company was hit by U.S. sanctions and crippled by debts, Reuters reports.

In October, it became known that Angstrem-T had accumulated significant debts and was set to be taken over by VEB after failing to reimburse an 815-million-euro ($945 million) loan dating back to 2008.

A former owner of the plant confirmed it had been taken over. VEB did not immediately comment.

President Vladimir Putin has stressed the need to develop Russia’s domestic tech industry to make it less dependent on foreign equipment amid a broader stand-off with the West.

But Moscow’s efforts to manufacture Russian microchips and other high tech products have been thwarted by U.S. sanctions against a string of Russian tech companies.

Angstrem-T JSC was founded in 2005 to create a contract manufacturing of submicron semiconductor products.

Vnesheconombank is the main creditor of the project. The total investment in the project amounted to $1 billion, with VEB’s participation reaching around $939.5 million.