Report: Russia’s Alfa-Bank buys $150 mln of Rosneft’s loan rights

MOSCOW, Apr 19 (PRIME) -- Alfa-Bank, belonging to Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman, has acquired a U.S. $150 million share in a syndicated loan taken by oil major Rosneft to buy TNK-BP from Morgan Stanley in November 2015, Forbes Russia reported on Tuesday, citing a source close to Alfa-Group.

“The bank has agreed to sell part of the loan at a discount. Morgan Stanley must have found a better use for the money or was scared of something,” the source said.

Alfa-Bank pledged these claim rights, backed by Rosneft oil exports, against a loan from Western banks. Its profit will be in the discount, the source said.

The loan was secured against oil supplies. Since the oil price has declined, Rosneft is forced to raise the shipments under contracts of pre-exports financing and sometimes cancels tenders for oil sales, Forbes reported.

Rosneft does not include pre-export financing into its debt estimates, and a source close to the company said that the company does not have problems with debt repayment.

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