Rosbank has granted Russian mining company Alrosa a $250 million loan for a one-year period, Rough & Polished reports. According to the source, “the proceeds will be used to refinance the current debt at a lower interest rate and to reduce financial expenses”.
First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Rosbank, General Director for Russia Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking Ilya Polyakov commented: “Alrosa is an important client of Rosbank which is a part of the Societe Generale Group. It has been cooperating with the world leader in diamond mining since 1998. We are pleased to successfully close the new important deal and hope that this agreement will accelerate the further development of our relations”.
In early December, Alrosa announced that it has made “an early repayment of a part of its $720 million bank loan due in 2019”, according to Diamond World. This loan held an interest rate of 4.3%, and Alrosa refinanced the remaining balance at lower interest rates. According to the miner, it has refinanced $600 million out of $720 through two new loans of $350 million and $250 million. The loans were issued by Raiffeisenbank and Rosbank respectively, and are due for repayment in December 2018.
