Russia’s VTB says Mechel redeems overdue payments before new deals

MOSCOW, Jul 1 (PRIME) -- Metals and mining group Mechel redeemed all its overdue payments to VTB Bank, Russia’s second largest bank, while final debt restructuring deals will be signed within a month, a bank official told PRIME Wednesday.

“The company redeemed all overdue liabilities that existed at the moment of signing preliminary agreements on debt restructuring,” the representative said. “The signing of final contracts on suspensive conditions and final settlements with the company are expected to be done within a month.”

Previously, the company managed to reach agreements on restructuring of debts to two of its three main creditors – VTB and Gazprombank, but it could not reach a compromise with Sberbank. Earlier on Wednesday, Sberbank said it plans to initiate bankruptcy of three Mechel subsidiaries, while Sberbank CEO German Gref said there were no real buyers of Mechel’s debt to the bank.

As of June 15, Mechel’s debt stood at U.S. $6.772 billion. The company said earlier it owed around $2.3 billion to Gazprombank, $1.8 billion to VTB Bank, and $1.3 billion to Sberbank.

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