OREANDA-NEWS. RZB and Raiffeisenbank Austria in Moscow mandated. First USD 250 million tranche to be arranged within the next weeks, reported the press-centre of RZB.

Avtovaz chose Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich AG (RZB) and ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria in Moscow as Mandated Lead Arrangers for a Syndicated Term Loan Credit Facility. The Russian vehicle manufacturer plans to finance USD 500 million in total, USD 250 million out of this already within the first half of 2007. The mandate was signed yesterday late afternoon during the visit of the Russian president Vladimir Putin in Vienna-based Austrian Federal Economic Chamber by Vladimir V. Artyakov, President of the Avtovaz Group, and RZB Board Members Herbert Stepic and Patrick Butler.

"We are delighted to use our origination and syndication skills in arranging transactions such as this in one of the world’s most competitive markets. Not only does this syndication strengthen RZB Group's position in financing the Russian corporate sector, it also underlines RZB's competence as the leading, most active arranger for syndicated loans in CIS and CEE", said Patrick Butler, RZB's responsible Board Member for Investment Banking and Treasury.

The joint stock company Avtovaz was established in 1966 and has been listed on the Russian RTS Stock Exchange since 1998. It is Russia's largest vehicle manufacturer with a market share of about 36 per cent. Avtovaz currently employs approximately 111,000 people and sells more than 700,000 vehicle units a year which are distributed within the CIS region and exported to CEE, Western Europe, Egypt and other countries in North Africa as well as South America. Avtovaz is better known in continental Europe under its well established brand name "LADA".