Tenth Debtor

Gazprom has not decided what to do with the Vnesheconombank loan

Of the ten companies that received VEB loans last fall to refinance external debt, only Gazprom has not decided whether it needs an extension of the contract. As Interfax reports, citing a source in banking circles, the gas monopolist did not come into contact with VEB on this matter. The size of the loan - only $153 million - does not allow for the idea that the concern may have serious problems with repayment, which is due on December 5th. And Gazprom’s successful return to foreign capital markets (the company has already placed several issues of Eurobonds totaling about $2.5 billion) means that the monopolist is unlikely to urgently need to extend the loan agreement.

As you know, last week, VEB’s supervisory board, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, approved a one-year extension of loan agreements with six companies totaling about $8 billion. RUSAL, Evraz, Gazprom Neft, PIK Group, Sitronics and Eco Telecom (a division of Alfa Group) at the height of the crisis borrowed about $9 billion from the bank, repaid part of the debt, but in the end they turned to the state corporation with requests to postpone the deadline for final payments. Three more state-owned companies - Russian Railways, VTB and Rosneft - returned the money received to Vnesheconombank ahead of schedule.

The concern does not explain why Gazprom did not follow their example and ask for an extension. It cannot be ruled out that Gazprom’s financiers simply cannot get around to resolving the issue for such a modest amount. The oil subsidiary of the gas monopolist nevertheless decided to extend the Web loan (for $375 million). However, Gazprom Neft was one of the main players in the market this year in the field of acquisitions and was in especially strong need of financial resources.

Alexey GRIVACHS