The supervisory board of Russia's Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) has decided to refinance Russian companies' debts worth $9.8bn, the bank's chief executive Vladimir Dmitriyev told a press conference late on Monday. He noted that the specified sum only accounted for decisions made by the supervisory board up to December 1. According to Dmitriyev, $7.5bn has already been disbursed to Russian companies as part of refinancing schemes, while money transfers on several other approved deals will get underway as soon as possible.