Only three years ago, when liberal economic reform-ers held sway in Russia and Yukos Oil Co. was at the forefront of an ascendant private sector, Vnesh- torgbank seemed set to define the future of Russian banking. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corp., the World Bank's private sector affiliate, were negotiating with the government to buy a minority stake in the state-owned bank in preparation for a full-fledged privatization. Western capital and management expertise, so the plan went, would modernize the country's second-largest bank and help transform Russia's crisis-prone, state-dominated banking system into a trusted guardian of savings and an efficient provider of credit. Much has changed since then, of course. Reformers are on the run in the face of resurgent authoritarianism under President Vladimir Putin, the government has effectively renational-ized Yukos by stripping it of its main assets, and talk of banking reform has gone quiet. Yet Vneshtorgbank's star as a national banking model is shining brighter than ever.
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