UPDATE: VTB says buys about 50 bln rbl of Mechel debt from Sberbank

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MOSCOW, Nov 7 (PRIME) -- Russia’s second biggest lender VTB has bought almost 50 billion rubles of the debt of metals producer Mechel from Sberbank to become the largest creditor of the group, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

“Group VTB has purchased the debt of the group Mechel from Sberbank totaling a little less than 50 billion rubles, which, jointly with the current exposure, has made VTB the largest creditor of the group,” the bank said.

Mechel’s net debt amounted to 423 billion rubles in 2018. In June 2019, Mechel offered its key creditors, Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank, to revise its terms and the banks are studying the proposal.

Mechels’ common shares grew 4.02% to 62.93 rubles as of 10:28 a.m., Moscow time on the Moscow exchange on the news. The preferred shares rose 2.25% to 90.8 rubles.

VBT First Deputy CEO Dmitry Olyunin said the bank expects the deal to influence the reserves positively. “This (the purchase of Mechel’s debt) will not influence negatively the results of the bank, the opposite is true: we expect a positive effect from the point of view of general reserving after several transactions of asset exchange between us and the other creditors.”

(63.5880 rubles – U.S. $1)

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