Spox says Antipinsky’s liabilities exceed Sberbank’s estimate

MOSCOW, Jun 4 (PRIME) – A U.S. $1.0–1.5 billion debt burden of the Antipinsky refinery was much higher than its main creditor and current key owner Sberbank assumed, a spokesperson for the bank told PRIME on Tuesday.

“We knew from open sources that the debt burden is much higher than we used to assume when building relations with the client. Naturally, this is a problem for us. We think that this was one of the reasons behind the current state of affairs at the plant,” the official said.

The Antipinsky refinery is 80% owned by Sberbank, which is now in talks to sell the asset to potential investors, including SOCAR. Azerbaijani company’s CEO Rovnag Abdullayev said that the company was considering the acquisition.

Forbes reported on Monday that Antipinsky’s former owner Dmitry Mazurov used to take loans for trade companies affiliated with him under guarantees of the plant and that the plant is liable to pay $1.0–1.5 billion.

A source with knowledge of the matter said that any loans under guarantees by Antipinsky had to be agreed with Sberbank but this procedure was not performed and that guarantees for up to $1 billion were not reflected in the financial reports of the plant.

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