OREANDA-NEWS. October 04, 2010. VEB Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev told journalists that RusAl would repay its credit worth USD  4.5 billion, which it raised from Vnesheconombank in autumn of 2008 in the nearest time.

“I think it’s a matter of several hours, funds are available to refinance the debt in full’, said Dmitriev.

RusAl is planning to refinance its debt to VEB through raising a credit from Russia’s Sberbank.

Earlier, Sberbank President German Gref said that the credit could be refinanced in September.

V.Dmitriev said that that a key provision of the transaction model agreed upon by the three parties was that under no circumstances the mining and smelting plant’s collateral (Nornickel’s blocking stake owned by RusAl and pledged against VEB’s credit) was not to be alienated from the state.

In early August it became known that that Sberbank approved extending a credit worth USD 4.5 billion to RusAl for a period of up to December 2013 to refinance its debt to VEB. The sum of the credit approved covers the current debt of the Aluminum Company and capitalized interest.

In November 2008, RusAl raised a credit worth USD 4.5 billion from VEB to repay a loan obtained in April of 2008 from a syndicate of Western banks to purchase 25% +2 shares of the Norilsk Nickel Mining and Smelting Company. Last autumn VEB rolled over the credit for another year – until October 29, 2010.