The Russian government has begun offloading what remains of the country’s National Welfare Fund (NWF) to prop up its sanctioned financial sector, confirming this week that Sovcombank received a subordinated deposit of 29.6 billion rubles. The funds are part of a broader government scheme allocating 300 billion rubles from the NWF to four of Russia’s largest banks under the guise of financing the Moscow–St. Petersburg high-speed rail project.