Azovstal Takes Out USD 100 Mln Syndicated Loan

Azovstal’s (AZST: SELL) received a loan for two years from a consortium of European Banks. The consortium includes BNP Paribas and Raiffeisenbank (lead managers), as well as Commerzbank, Erste Bank London, HSH Nord Bank, Standart Bank and West LB. The loan repayments begin in January 2006 and will be provided in equal parts. Azovstal’s exclusive trader, Leman Commodities, was the guarantor for the credit agreement, and the loan is backed by the plant’s export contracts. The credit funds will be used to for Azovstal?s upgrade program. Concorde Capital: Azovstal already received aUSD 100 mln syndicated loan from ING Bank, HVB Bank, Deutsche Bank ? Credit Suisse in 2004. The current loan will finance a CapEx program which stipulates steel output expansion by 30% to 7.3-7.5 mln mt by 2007.