Moscow-Russian fertilizer producer UralChem OJSC has reached an agreement with Sberbank for the restructuring of loans, originally due for repayment during the period of 2010-2012, totaling US$867.5 million. According to the loan restructuring agreement, the terms of repayment will be postponed from 2010 until 2011-2013 on two credit line agreements, and interest rates will be lowered from 11.5 percent to 9 percent. The company said the debt restructuring was undertaken as part of a wider initiative to optimize its debt financing terms, and represents “a significant step” in the process of bringing the company’s loan debts to a more comfortable level. “The agreement we’ve reached with Sberbank is a testament of their confidence in the ongoing development of the mineral fertilizer sector, as well as in the robustness of UralChem’s investment program, production efficiency and growth prospects,” said Anton Vishanenko, UralChem’s chief financial officer. “We are confident that fruitful and mutually-beneficial partnerships with banks and lenders will continue well into the future.” In late October, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with its creditors on the refinancing of US$60 million in debt on the mineral fertilizer plant of Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Works, Closed Joint Stock Company, Kirovo-Chepetsk, Kirov Region. The agreement between UralChem and ZAO Raiffeisen Bank postponed the debt repayment from 2009 to 2010, with US$20 million payable in the first quarter of 2010 and US$40 million in the second quarter of 2010. Interest rates for this credit remained unchanged.
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