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Russian govt. approves further $2bln bailout for domestic firms

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MOSCOW, November 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state development bank Vnesheconombank has approved a further $2 billion to help Russian companies repay their foreign debts amid the global financial crisis, VEB said on Friday.

VEB said the funds would be used to assist Russian mining and electronics companies, whose operations are of major economic importance to the country.

"As a result, the loans approved by the advisory board to refinance the foreign debts of companies working in the real sectors of the economy will total about $10 billion," the bank said.

Russia's government and Central Bank have recently taken urgent measures to pump billions of U.S. dollars into the domestic stock market to shore up the liquidity of leading producers.

In late October, VEB granted an initial $8 billion to refinance the foreign debts of energy companies, metals producers, and construction, transport and communications firms.

The Central Bank has earmarked a $50 billion rescue package for Russian companies.

The state earlier granted oil producers an estimated $5.5 billion in tax breaks.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier said the government would allocate up to $50 billion to companies to refinance their foreign debts.

He also said that companies should be offered alternative debt refinancing loans as a way of "saving Russian enterprises from being sold off at rock-bottom prices, which do not reflect their true value."

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