European development bank to close most offices in Russia

Russian news agencies say the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will shut five of its seven offices in Russia next year as its projects are drying up following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The EBRD, which largely focuses on infrastructure development, announced in July 2014 after the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia that it would not make any new investments in the country.

The Interfax news agency on Tuesday quoted Anton Usov of the bank's branch for the former Soviet Union as saying that the bank would close five of its seven offices in Russia next year because some of the projects it was pursuing were nearing completion. The bank currently has investment projects worth 3.3 billion euros ($3.9 billion).