When the Russian government needed to build up infrastructure in the southern city of Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, it turned to Russia’s most important lender: Vnesheconombank, the country’s state-owned development bank. Russian President Vladimir Putin said private investors would be responsible for most of the Olympic costs, which ballooned to an estimated $50 billion. But VEB ended up picking up much of the tab, eventually holding the equivalent of at least $2.9 billion in overdue loans. Now, the bill is coming due. VEB for years kept its books in balance by borrowing heavily from foreign lenders. But after being slapped with sanctions by Europe and the U.S. following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, the bank faces the task of paying off about $20 billion in foreign-currency debt, about $3 […]