OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2013. RusForest AB has amended the SEK 32 million (USD 5 million) term loan from the Company’s largest shareholder, Vostok Komi (Cyprus) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vostok Nafta Investment Ltd (“Vostok Nafta”).

In addition, RusForest has secured an additional term loan from Vostok Nafta of approximately SEK 25 million (USD 3.9 million), as the company said in a press release received by Lesprom Network.

As previously announced, RusForest is raising approximately SEK 186 million (USD 29 million) in two equity issues expected to close by the end of March 2013. In order to ensure that the Company has sufficient working capital to reach closing, RusForest has accepted an offer from Vostok Nafta for an additional term loan of approximately SEK 25 million (USD 3.9 million) to be repaid from the proceeds of the upcoming rights issue. Vostok Nafta has guaranteed the full rights issue amount of approximately SEK 86 million (USD 13 million).

The new term loan carries 9% annual interest and matures on March 31, 2013. The loan is secured by a pledge of the Company’s rights under certain forest lease agreements and is repayable at the earlier of the rights issue or maturity. The proceeds from the loan will be used for working capital purposes while RusForest closes the pending transactions.

In addition, Vostok Nafta has agreed to amend the previous bridge loan of USD 5 million secured in November 2012. Originally, the loan carried 16% annual interest and was repayable at the earlier of an equity issue or maturity on April 30, 2013. Given the pending transactions, Vostok has agreed to extend the loan maturity until December 31, 2013, and reduce the annual interest rate to 9%. The repayment of this loan is no longer a condition precedent for closing of the pending transactions with Nova Capital LLC, and the loan will only be due at maturity.

RusForest is a Swedish forestry company operating in eastern Siberia and the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. RusForest’s largest shareholder is Vostok Nafta, which owns approximately 29% of the Company’s shares.