Russia's VTB believes Mechel can service its debt -CEO

En+ MKPAO

19/11/2019 11:33

MOSCOW, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Russian state bank VTB  VTBR.MM ,
one of the two key lenders to steel and coal producer Mechel
 MTLR.MM , believes that the miner can service its debts, VTB
Chief Executive Andrey Kostin told Reuters. 
    Mechel, which has agreed on a repayment schedule with
Russian banks several years ago, has again asked banks this
year, including VTB, to push back debt payments to 2024-2026
from 2020-2022.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nR4N27M00I  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N25B47X   
    Kostin said that Mechel's new repayment schedule is yet to
be agreed but he believed that the miner would be able to
service its debts.  
    "We said this from the very beginning: we don't want to
manage Mechel. Looking into the future, Mechel is quite an
effective company," Kostin said. 
    VTB also holds a 22% stake in En+ Group  ENPLq.L , after the
bank became part of the deal helping En+ averting U.S. sanctions
put on Oleg Deripaska, who controlled the company, last year.
The sanctions were lifted earlier this year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2097C3 
    Kostin said that VTB may consider selling its stake in En+
once the company's shares rise from $9 per share, without
specifying by how much.
    
($1 = 63.8550 roubles)

 (Reporting by Tatiana Voronova and Katya Golubkova, editing by
Louise Heavens)
 ((ekaterina.golubkova@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 1242;))