Vnesheconombank's 2016 net loss will amount to about 130 billion rubles under Russian accounting standards, less than the previously expected loss of 200 billion rubles, Prime reported Dec. 26, citing VEB's head, Sergey Gorkov.

The sale of Gazprom American depositary receipts earlier in 2016 contributed 118 billion rubles to VEB's overall loss because they were divested below their purchasing price.

VEB's net loss for the first nine months of 2016, under Russian accounting standards, amounted to 153.7 billion rubles, up 3.3x compared with the same period last year. The IFRS net loss for the first nine months was 86.2 billion rubles, down from the year-ago loss of 133 billion rubles.

Gorkov also said VEB could complete the sale of its retail leasing business in Ukraine by the end of 2016, according to a separate Prime report.

As of Dec. 26, US$1 was equivalent to 61.01 Russian rubles.