Russia's Shuvalov picked to head state development bank VEB: sources

By Polina Nikolskaya, Tatiana Voronova and Darya Korsunskaya

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Igor Shuvalov, the former first deputy prime minister, has been selected to head Russian state development bank VEB, three sources told Reuters, although they said it was not clear if final documentation for the move had been signed.

Shuvalov will replace Sergei Gorkov, who has been in charge of VEB since February 2016, the sources familiar with the matter said, without saying why the change was being made.

Gorkov, who previously worked at Sberbank, joined VEB when it requested state aid after making big loans to state projects, including those related to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

Shuvalov and VEB officials declined to comment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the government did not discuss such staffing issues and "won't do so this time either" when asked about the appointment.

As first deputy prime minister, Shuvalov had overseen economic and financial policy, alongside the state privatization program, until a cabinet reshuffle after Vladimir Putin's re-election as president. Shuvalov was left out of the new cabinet.

VEB, which still relies on state financial support, reported a net loss of 287.7 billion rubles ($4.71 billion) in 2017, more than double the loss reported in 2016.

(Reporting by Tatiana Voronova, Polina Nikolskaya and Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Edmund Blair)