In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Export-Import Bank said, “These transactions<br />all supported the sale of U. S. exports and thus supported American jobs.”<br />Since the sanctions took effect, the spokeswoman said, there have been no new VEB transactions,<br />and deals involving any Russian entities have been placed on “administrative hold.”<br />The sanctions also limited VEB’s relationship with American banks.<br />It would not be out of the ordinary, then, for a VEB official to have brief courtesy meetings with New York bankers about continuing business, though they would not<br />be allowed to discuss new bond deals, said Aaron Wolfson, a partner at Lewis Baach who previously worked at JPMorgan and prosecuted banks for skirting sanctions.<br />The two met as Mr. Gorkov traveled to gather ideas for a new strategy for the bank, published a month after the meeting with Mr. Kushner in a document called “Strategy 2021.” It called for shifting some risks directly to the Russian budget, selling assets not considered central to the bank<br />and trying to resume borrowing in places like the United States.<br />And before the sanctions, securities filings show, Goldman and others had helped the Russian bank issue bonds, activity<br />that was blocked by the sanctions and that VEB was eager to resume.<br />Since then, however, VEB has quietly kept up appearances on Wall Street in the event<br />that sanctions would be lifted, according to interviews with American bankers and former government officials.<br />In 2013, the Export-Import Bank guaranteed a loan of about $500 million so that, in effect, a VEB subsidiary<br />could acquire a number of Boeing 777 aircraft — planes that VEB then leased to Aeroflot Russian Airlines.
