Russia's Uralchem gets $4.5 bln loan from VTB Capital Russia's Uralchem gets $4.5 bln loan from VTB Capital
Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:04pm IST
MOSCOW, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Russian fertiliser firm Uralchem, which is buying a 20 percent stake in world No. 1 potash producer Uralkali, has secured a $4.5 billion loan from VTB Capital, owned by Russian state lender VTB, Uralchem said on Monday.
The loan will be provided for seven years, the company, owned by billionaire Dmitry Mazepin, added.
Uralchem spokesman Alan Basiev said the loan was "related to the deal with Uralkali shares." The company will provide details later, he added.
The deal for the stake in Uralkali was worth about $3 billion based on Uralkali's closing share price a day before it was announced in early December.
Meanwhile, Russia's largest iron ore miner Metalloinvest , controlled by the country's richest man Alisher Usmanov, plans to restructure 55 billion roubles ($1.7 billion) in credit lines from Sberbank, Russia's largest bank.
The new 5- and 7-year credit lines will replace current facilities from Sberbank due for payment in 2014-2015, Metalloinvest said in a statement.
In an interview with Reuters last week, Sberbank CEO German Gref warned almost every economic sector in Russia was weakening, putting pressure on the quality of the bank's loan book.