OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2013. Gazprombank (Open Joint Stock Company) and Sberbank of Russia announce that Quadra – Power Generation (JSC Quadra) has received the first tranche under its 11-year syndicated credit line worth RUB 10 bln.

The company will use the funds to finance its investment programme to construct new generating facilities under contracts for providing electric power to the wholesale electricity market.

The syndicated loan was arranged by Gazprombank and Sberbank of Russia (the joint team of Sberbank CIB1 and the Srednerussky Bank of Sberbank of Russia) with the companies playing an equal role in the deal.

To fund the deal, Gazprombank and the joint team of Sberbank attracted financial resources from a number of foreign banks, including Sberbank Europe’s Hungarian unit. These resources are insured by a number of export credit agencies: Hungarian Export Credit Insurance Ltd – MEHIB (Hungary), Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation – EGAP (Czech Republic) and Export Credits Guarantee Board – EKN (Sweden). Gazprombank secured additional funding from Nordic Investment Bank as part of the Russian Energy Efficiency Program.

“Sberbank has traditionally cooperated with Russian energy sector companies and understands their social significance. This deal is another milestone in our several year partnership with Quadra. The syndicated loan provided by a club of banks is the natural continuation of the beneficial relationships that we have developed and is further proof of Sberbank’s interest in developing Russia’s energy industry by providing effective and relevant financial market products and services,” commented Evgeny Kozerenko, Deputy Chairman of the Srednerussky Bank of Sberbank of Russia.

“This deal is an important step forward in developing Sberbank’s trade finance business, the main aim of which is providing optimal financial solutions for our clients in terms of price parameters and terms. As well as this, the deal included financing of the export of equipment to Russia from two countries – Hungary and the Czech Republic – where the Sberbank Group is also present. The participation of our Hungarian subsidiary in the deal helped us to maximally utilise the synergy effect produced from our Central European presence,” said Andrey Ivanov, Head of the Trade Finance and Correspondence Relations Department at Sberbank CIB.

“This deal is the logical continuation of the financing provided by the participants of the syndicate of Quadra’s investment programme. By arranging this syndicated loan, Gazprombank and Sberbank have created a unique banking product that enables the simultaneous financing of a client’s entire investment programme under common conditions. The banks did everything possible to tailor the lending conditions to best meet Quadra’s requirements. The three export credit agencies and Nordic Investment Bank (Scandinavian development bank) also played a key role in optimising the price parameters of the deal,” commented First Vice-President of Gazprombank (Open Joint-Stock Company) Sergey Nekrasov.

“Quadra is currently implementing an extensive investment programme to construct generating facilities that will add 1,092 MW of capacity. The funds provided under this loan agreement will enable us to finance the construction of power generation facilities in accordance with Directive No. 1334-r issued by the Government of the Russian Federation on August 11, 2010,” said Yevgeny Mironenko, Director for Economics and Finance at JSC "Quadra – Power Generation".