Sberbank lending $2.2bn to Potanin’s Interros conglomerate

By Andrei Skvarsky.

Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Russia’s biggest lender Sberbank, has pledged to open several five-year credit lines to a total of $2.2bn for oligarch Vladimir Potanin’s Interros multi-industrial investment conglomerate.

The money will be used to refinance part of Interros’s current loan portfolio and fund some of the projects of the Moscow-headquartered company, which mainly does business in mining, metals, the entertainment industry, real estate, tourism, transport and logistics, Sberbank CIB said in a statement.

Some of the credit lines are dollar- and others ruble-denominated, but money from the ruble lines may be provided in foreign currency under the terms of the deal.

“In recent years, Interros has systematically worked on lowering its general debt level and optimizing its loan portfolio,” the statement quoted Interros first deputy chief executive as saying.

“These lines of credit which were put together with our colleagues from Sberbank CIB will help reduce the burden on our investment projects and significantly reduce the cost of servicing our debt, in part by allowing us to repay our more expensive loans.”

“The Sberbank team has been collaborating with Interros for a long time,” said Alexander Bazarov, a co-chief executive of Sberbank CIB and senior vice-president of parent company Sberbank.

“The company’s business is developing in a stable fashion and consequently has new needs to be met. We, as a flexible universal bank, are always prepared to meet any – even the most unusual – client request. It’s important to note that the Sberbank CIB team worked on structuring the deal,” he said.

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