An oligarch seen as close to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saw his bank default on €200bn in Eurobonds, triggering losses for foreign investors even as the state stepped in to buoy his strategic shipbuilding empire.

Sergei Pugachev, a member of Russia's upper house of parliament, whose son owns the French tabloid France-Soir, oversees a pool of assets ranging from shipbuilding wharves and coal to the International Industrial Bank, which failed late on Tuesday to repay the Eurobonds, telling investors to expect a "limited extension of the maturity".